​If Krishna is the supreme cause, how is our destiny in our hands?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So Krishna says he’s the supreme cause, then how is our destiny in our hands? This is not exactly a question linked with science, but I’ll take this right now. Krishna is the supreme cause.
He’s not the immediate cause. That means if rains fall, the fall of rains is the cause of vegetation on the earth. But what kind of vegetation will grow where, that depends on what kind of seeds are sown.
So if farmers sow proper grains, they will have a harvest. If they just let weeds grow over there, then the weeds will just need to wind over. So that immediate cause is determining the vegetation.
So like that, we all have freedom. Krishna is the ultimate cause of everything, but he’s not the immediate cause of everything. So that means with the intelligence that I have, with the ability that I have, what abilities I have, what intelligence I have, that is determined by my destiny from the past, which is ultimately by Krishna’s will.
But what I do with the destiny, that is with me up to now, in my hands. I can use it for something constructive, or I can use it for something destructive, or I may not use it at all. So, Vidura tells Dhritarashtra, destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves.
Destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves. So, if a mother tells a child, your exam is coming, study. Whatever is my destiny, that will happen.
No, destiny is not, destiny will determine, after you study, after you give the paper, what result will come, that is after destiny will determine. But whether you study or not, that is not determined by destiny. That is determined by your own ethos of responsibility or irresponsibility.
So, destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves. So, for a farmer, a farmer will sow the field, but if rains do not come, then sowing the field will also not produce the results. So, there is karma plus daiva plus kala, which leads to fallow.
Karma is the farmer’s own actions, which are in the farmer’s hands. The daiva is the timely coming of rains in adequate quantity, appropriate quantity. Then even when karma and daiva work out properly, after that also there is kala, time has to pass.
You cannot just the rains, kama and rains not immediately after that, next day you will have harvest. It takes time, kala has to pass. So, karma plus daiva plus kala, that eventually leads to fallow.
So, the daiva is not in our hands, but the karma is definitely in our hands. That’s why Bhagavad Gita urges us all to do our duty, to not Krishna does not recommend laziness at all while living in this world.