A few questions remain unanswered for many of us. Can we get answers for every question we have? We do get answers to some at some point in our life though some remain unanswered till the last breath we take.
‘Destiny is one such aspect on which questions kept occurring to me –
Is there something called ‘Destiny’?
If something is destined to happen, can I change it?
Can I make that incident not happen at all?
If I can change my destiny, how do I do that?
I have been asking people these questions and they have attempted to give me their thoughts; however, none was convincing to me. In the last few years of my journey in vedAntA, though I may have not got a concrete answer (is there one at all?) I have got different perspectives in the direction of answers to this question.
When I heard the word prArabdhA, I connected it to the word ‘Destiny’ (whether this is right or not, I don’t know). This made me understand better the way events unfolded in my life. Many of my reading on vedAntA and listening to discourses brought in another word – Free Will.. I tried seeking answers to the meaning of Free Will and its connect to prArabdhA.. The answers I received did not convince me. It made me wonder if I was seeking a specific answer which I also was not conscious of. However, I observed that the word prArabdhA struck a chord that was more meaningful than the word ‘Destiny’. The words prArabdhA and Free Will started occupying my mind space as I continued to seek answers.
While I was trying to pen this article, I came across an earlier article of mine that was published in chakra news which set the tone for this one. Sharing a couple of paragraphs here..
‘The prArabdha karma controls whether the next jenma will be in an animal / human body, whether it would be a man / woman, parentage, place of birth, status, duration of life etc…
Every experience a person undergoes in life is due to that person’s prArabdha / AgAmi karma… The past ‘I’ is responsible for the present ‘I’ and the present ‘I’ is responsible for the future ‘I’.. The past ‘I’ cannot be corrected while one can influence / control / direct / manage the future ‘I’ by handling the present ‘I’.. ‘I’ am responsible for ‘my’ future.’
A paragraph I read recently in the Bhagavad gItA Home Study by pujya swAmi DayAnanda Saraswati gave me a different perspective of the words prArabdhA and Free Will. I have more questions after I read this yet this reading seems to ring in knowledge J. It reads like this..
prArabdha karma is generally accompanied by Free Will that a human being has. This Free Will can interfere with the prArabdha karma in many ways – modifying it, mending it, working against it and doing anything else to it that Free Will can do. Given that prArabdha karma and Free Will go together. Every situation is prArabdhaA based and Free Will based. Where prArabdhA stops and where Free Will begins, no one can say. There is no way of knowing which one brought you to a particular situation.
prArabdha karma is the portion of the sanchita karma (karmAs earned in the several births) that fructifies, and we have no control in the unfolding of this karmA. If the result is in the form of punyA, then we may not question it. We will perhaps welcome it with both my hands. However if the result is in the form of a pApa and we have to face a time in our life that is not positive, then we ask, “Why?”. We may also not think of Free will when we face a punyA in our life.
If prArabdhA and Free Will go together in every situation, where does Free Will come in when we have no control over a situation that unfolds in our life. Is it in the way we handle the situation? Is it in the act of prayer / japA that we do everyday that helps us to anticipate a situation and handle it when it comes? Is it in the act of prayer / japA that we do when we are in the situation, which gives us the strength to handle it?
I have tried to understand prArabdhA and Free Will by mapping two incidents. As I try to connect the incidents to prArabdhA and Free Will, there are more questions that got raised.
- This is an incident that was faced by an 18 year old boy who was selected to play for a national level under 18 sport tournament. He was one of the 15 selected (from about 500 children, after many rounds of matches and being under observation). It was a moment of pride for him as years of his effort and working towards his dream paid off. When he went to play for the tournament, he was pulled out by the authorities and was told that he was over age as he was physically well built. The authorities sent him for an x ray and they found his bones were developed more than that of an 18-year old. They refused to allow him to play in the tournament. His parents rushed to the state where the tournament was being held, with all the documents (the report of his birth in the hospital and the doctors summary at that time which also carried the date, month and year of his birth, his birth certificate and his passport). The boy was still not able to play in the tournament. It was later came to be known to them from reliable sources, that such ‘politics’ happen every year and some children become the scapegoats of these ‘politics’. Was this the boy’s and the parent’s prArabdhA to face this tough and traumatic situation? Where was the Free Will here? In his choice to pursue his desire? In the choice of the parent’s to rush with the documents and help their son? Was it their Free Will in the way they rallied around him, to give him strength to help him thru the emotional moments? Did his Free Will to do his Sandhya vanadanam and gAyatri japA (the chanting of mantras of a person who has had his upanayanam done) everyday help him in handling the situation? Is Free will in the way he chose to bounce back and move on in life? Or is all this also prArabdhA?
- I went thru a challenging phase recently when I had to undergo two major surgeries within 20 days of each other. While the first surgery was a planned one, the second one was unexpected. I assume it was my prArabdhA to go thru both the surgeries. While the first one was also my Free Will as I could have chosen not to go thru it, the second one however, I am not sure if I had a choice. The recovery phase was filled with a lot of emotions and questions. Again prArabdhA at play? How does the Free Will to go with the prArabdhA here? Was my Free Will in my choice to keep praying all thru the tough period? Was my free will it in the way I spent my recovery period reading books on vedAntA and listening to discourses? Was my urge to learn vedAntA that got deeper during this recovery period due to my Free Will? Or is all this also prArabdhA?
Both these incidents that I have narrated have certainly raised many a question on prArabdhA and Free Will. I am yet to find answers to these questions. If I find them, I consider myself blessed and if I don’t, is it my prArabdhA?
As an answer, these sentences ring louder in my ears, “Where prArabdhA stops and where Free Will begins, no one can say. There is no way of knowing which one brought you to a particular situation”.
May 15, 2017 at 12:17 am
“Can we get answers for every question we have?” In fact, we are yet to get answers to the fundamental question-trio of, ‘who we are here, why we are here and how we are here’, notwithstanding the rapidness (!) with which we have gained knowledge on physical sciences (PS). It is said that the knowledge human race has gained in PS in the last 400 years is more than what knowledge it has gained up to that period since the race is guessed to have come into existence!
But with the opening question the blogger has opened this subject with a bang indeed, as without the backing of an inquisitiveness to know (jignyAsA) into the subject of philosophy such questions will be rare to come forth. Although the blogger has probably in her own subtle way put it as if she has got more questions than answers, it is clear that she has indeed more than what her blog reveals. But as she has thrown open the subject with a scope for ‘reply’, we too are induced to put forth what we have got in us on the subject which has been doing its own nagging rounds in us and outside (in the form of discussions/debate for quite some time in a closed circuit)!
It is no surprise or peculiarity on the philosophical side, the answers may not appear to be as precise (!) as they may be (!) in physical sciences, because, there (in physical sciences) we define every preliminary perceptible element (the term element here is in the sense of just an item or phenomenon in the universe, not in the usual definition in chemistry) that is an object of study or wonder to us individually and see their impact on us and every small application we put them on to. The study is from scratch in a logical or mathematical way (every term is our definition and as they are generally familiar no further finer explanation given) like as we learn from the lowest possible mathematical precise answers like 1+1=2, (what is 1, what is plus, what is equal to and what is 2 are all our own definitions)! But in philosophy, we will have answers only in a way that has a holistic appeal (vague? it will certainly be so) just as the subject of inquiry itself is holistic.
Why is this so? This is because, in physical sciences we ourselves learn like a child does from its infant stage to its adulthood, through ‘trial and error’ approach, a convenient way of ‘bottom up learning’: ‘as we go along and observe through our perceptive faculties, so we conclude in bits and pieces’, hoping that someday every bit will be assembled to a single law governing the universe.
In philosophical approach what do we do? We try to swallow the biggest non- conceived (non-conceivable?) item and digest it and metabolise it with our limited faculties in a way that appeals to our intellect (!) to see that we get it in one go! This ‘Top-down’ approach is obviously a very tough and overwhelming one, but yet attempted with faith that this approach will quickly get an approximate idea (I don’t mean absurdity here, but an answer that may have different appeal to different digesters due to the simple reason of unique ‘experiences’ on metabolisation), because this is how the swallower comes to terms with many of the lumps he tries to swallow at one go. This is why we get the impression we do get answers to some at some point in our life and some remain unanswered till the last breath we take!
Here I want to mention that the above is a general preamble I have been able to assimilate based on what I got from many a scholars and I therefore draw strength from them to put it in my own simple language, with a formal disclaimer, any defects there are to my debit and anything worth is credited to many a wise men from whom I have been privileged to hear!
With this small (?!) preamble let us now get on with the discussion!
Let us begin with, ‘is there something called destiny? The answer may be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ (Have we commenced the game of becoming clever in being evasive and vague?). Before answering what do we mean by ‘yes’, we have to make a big assumption, a logical one, though. What is that assumption? The entire universe (the word is of our coining to denote this colossal phenomenon) is of unlimited items, but unlikely to be chaotically arranged (meaning, being no doubt deterministic but subject to a set of innumerable initial conditions the magnitudes and directions of which is not ascertainable), and have further actions based on the unlimited items’ individual reactions (uncertainty principle here- because the set of pre conditions that govern an item observed in universe are so innumerable that it is difficult to precisely predict all its behaviour) to the environment in which they are placed by the System (which is responsible for their presence non-chaotic but unlimited in numbers)!
If the above assumption is appealing to us, then all unlimited items will have to have individual identities, though belonging to just one System, like we see in the case of all electronic items having identification numbers for tracing them to their logical ownerships! (The example of electronic items is a very poor example in comparison to the magnificence of the universe, but nevertheless a simple analogy to capture the essence).
That explains why in philosophy we call all universal items eternal. The action of each item is indelibly owned by the respective items. No escape. Each action of the respective item has to have triggered a reaction befitting its action set by way of an unbiased neutral predefined program set by that System in a systematic expert way!
One can wish to call this trigger as preordained if one wants to so call it as! This Is what has also been colloquially termed by us as ‘Destiny’!
One can give ‘No’ also as answer if ‘no’ is understood as, ‘for each and every item’s actions someone is NOT writing something in the folio relating to each and every item as in the case of an accountant, but it is LEFT to what is there as a fruit of an action predefined by way of an unbiased systematic program!
Now comes the most important question, If something is destined to happen, can I change it?
The answer again is ‘yes’ and ‘no’!
‘Yes’ in the sense of every item is endowed with its own ability to react (called ‘Free-will’ supported by intellect) and within the precincts of the law of system, it can attempt to reduce the influence of the ‘ordained’ program, like the tail wagging the dog instead of the dog wagging its tail. The answer is ‘no’ to mean that the item can’t escape the reaction it is subjected to for the prima face action it has exercised due to the program that is governing it but it can try to reduce the intensity to whatever extent it can by the Freewill!
The question ‘can I make that ‘incident’ not happen at all’? The answer is ‘yes’, if the incident is to mean of modified intensity, that is not the intensity with which it would have happened had there been no exercise of free will, as you may call that in any way, the exact incident has not happened, but the incident has happened!
The question of “If I can change my destiny, how do I do that?’ has already been answered collectively as above!
I will not be surprised at all if my response had gone the same way the answers of other people have gone, because that is how VeDanTa will be, till we reach the last mile stone (when it will be can’t be told with certainty!).
Before we proceed to discuss ‘PrArabDa’ one should have a frame of mind to accept the eternity of the ‘Atman’ or the ‘Self’ in the essence of soul’, without which it can’t be discussed at all. We have already discussed that whatever actions an integral item in universe has done, it sure has triggered a reaction befitting its action and such arrangement is impartially programmed by the System. The fruits of actions are not curbed by the termination (death we call it colloquially) of a particular embodiment of Atman and it transcends to successive future embodiments as well till reactions to all actions are fully exhausted. The word ‘prArabdhA’ is nothing but a portion of the effect of some of the actions that have started maturing to yield from out of the cumulative effect of all actions (sanchiTa) in all the embodiments including the present one. Please note here that actions are defined as ‘karma’ and its reactionary effects are termed ‘karma-phala’. The upnishaDs are very clear in this regard.
Does the prArabDa karma control the successive embodiments, nature, sex place, environment etc.? Yes, but not alone, but in combination with sanchiTa karma. (Please note that Free will coupled with intellect is always there to modify it to the extent it does the ‘yoga’). Actually, it does call for a short description of ‘yoga’ as well. ‘Yoga’ is nothing but an engagement in certain actions for betterment that is heavily supported by Free will and intellect to modify the effect of prArabDa that has started to yield from out of the sanchiTa karma, waiting to react.
So there is can be no doubt every experience a person undergoes in life is due to that person’s prArabdha / AgAmi karma… The past ‘I’ induced deed are rresponsible for the status of present ‘I’ and the present ‘I’ is responsible (in mending ways through yoga) for the future ‘I’. True the past ‘I’ (meaning the effects of actions in the past) cannot be corrected, but the fruit it is likely to get on account its past actions is certainly modifiable by the management of the present ‘I’ and the future ‘I’ by handling the present ‘I’, (by indulging in ‘yoga’ by exercise of Free will coupled with intellect). Therefore ‘I’ am no doubt responsible for ‘my’ future.’
We have to therefore constantly remember that prArabdha karma and Free Will that a human being has always coexist. This Free Will coupled with intellect can, through yoga, interfere with the prArabdha karma in many ways – modifying it, mending it, working against it and doing anything else to it that Free Will can do. Given that prArabdha karma and Free Will go together, every situation is prArabdhaA based as also Free Will based. There is no question of the situation ‘where prArabdhA stops and where Free Will begins’, when this situation of co-existence is accepted. It means the effect of resultant of two forces acting at a point (Atman. T o know the resultant we have to apply polygon law forces! Though it is difficult to arrive at the resultant, it is not difficult to say that the free will oriented yoga can do wonders! This is what is the purport of VeDAnTa as amplified in the VI chapter of BhagavaTgiTa dealing with the situation of yogabrashta throwing ample light.
If prArabdhA and Free Will go together in every situation, the doubt ‘where does Free Will come in when we have no control over a situation that unfolds in our life’ is unwarranted. We do have control in the form of Yoga initiated by Freewill coupled with intellect to handle the situation although we have lost control over prArabDa is it not? Such yoga is of multiple dimension of karma (duties) JnAna (exercise of intellect) BhakTi (exercise of love with devotion to Nature and System that has provided us with all faculties) and so on.
I have not ventured to comment on the specific two incidents, in view of the faith as to the co-existence of both PrArabDa and Freewill-coupled with intellect-initiated-Yoga working miracles on life. Both the incidents leave only one point uncertain, the extent of modification and not the modification itself.
I hope the response at least goes towards a meaningful further debate, if not the exact answers, except that if the yoga is powerful it can even annul the effects if any of all other karmas! Reading the BhagavaTgiTa several times under an AchArya and debating it with an AchArya continuously will remove all doubts just as Arjuna said at the end of his listening.