Finite karman/destiny patterns?

[Yaroslav Vassilkov]

Dear Martin,
        here are some MahAbhArata verses which may prove to be
relevant:

        dhAtaiva khalu bhUtAnAM sukhaduHkhe priyApriyau /
        dadhAti sarvam IzAnaH purastAc chukram uccaran //  3, 31.21


        uta santam asantaM ca bAlaM vRddhaM ca saMjaya /
        utA 'balaM balIyAsaM dhAtA prakurute vaze //
        uta bAlAya pANDityaM paNDitAyo 'ta bAlatAm /
        dadAti sarvam IzAnaH purastAc chukram uccaran //  5, 31.1-2

I consider it to be a theistic version of the epic (heroic) fatalism.
It implies, as it seems, the idea that DhAtA fixes destinies of all
living beings (limited number?) at the time of cosmic conception.
Hope it helps.
Regards,
                                Yaroslav Vassilkov



Fri, 09 Aug 102 18:22 +0300 MSK Martin Gansten wrote to INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk:

> Has anyone come across, within any Indic religious tradition, a doctrine to
> the effect that there exist a finite (albeit great) number of possible
> human life-patterns -- or in other words, a limitation to the variety of
> karmic manifestation? Such a view seems to underlie certain (late)
> astrological texts which I am studying, and I would be very interested to
> know of any parallels.
>
> Best regards,
> Martin Gansten
>
---
Yaroslav Vassilkov (yavass at YV1041.spb.edu)
Sun, 11 Aug 102 17:43 +0300 MSK