How do we decide when to confront a problem and when to accept it as destiny

Anwser Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Does that answer your question? So when do we decide or how do we decide when to confront a problem and when to when to let things stay as they are. So like Ram at one time just decided to accept Kaikeyi’s sentence. But then another time say when, I’ll take the other example.
When Sita was abducted, he did not consider that as the well of destiny. He actually went and fought a war to get her back. So there is sometimes the Vedic culture is considered destiny centered.
It’s called, the technical word for that is fatalism. But the culture primarily is duty centered. so in the incident when Kamsa is trying to kill Bihadevki and then Vasudev uses various arguments to try to stop Kamsa.
And one of the arguments he uses is if it is destined that he will die then what will you cannot change destiny. What will you gain by combining such a triple sinful activity. Killing a woman, killing a woman on her marriage and killing your own sister on her marriage.
So now Vasudev could have turned that argument around and thought that if Bihadevki is just trying to die, she is going to die. Why am I arguing so much with him? He did not use that argument that way. Destiny argument could have cut both ways.
Because the reason is that Kamsa was deviating from his duty. Duty of a brother, even a cousin brother is to protect his sister. So when somebody starts abandoning the duty in the hope of gaining something or in the hope of avoiding something at that time they are told turn by destiny.
Certain things you can’t avoid. Stick to your duty. But in the same situation Vasudev himself did not resort to the argument of destiny because his focus was it’s my duty to try to protect my wife no matter whatever happens.
So that means that our focus should be on duty. And when we are tempted away from duty because of certain things then we remember destiny. I won’t be able to avoid this.
So better let me not give up my duty but stick to my duty. So applying all this to our practical life, broadly speaking when we face problems we have three solutions, three approaches basically to change ourselves, to change the circumstance or to walk away from the circumstance. The Pandavas themselves demonstrate all three at different occasions.
Initially when Bhima is poisoned, initially when they attempted to be burnt alive in Varanavad. The Pandavas just accept it. They don’t even report it to anyone.
Keep it in the house. They change themselves and adjust. But later on when Draupadi is disrobed at that time or attempted to be disrobed, at that time a line is crossed and at that time they are ready to fight a war.
Change the circumstance. Later on when Krishna departs from the world, they get the news, they also walk away. Now in walking away and running away there is a difference.
When we are running away then our focus is just we are afraid of the problem, we want to go away from it. When we are walking away, at that time the focus is that you know I have better things to do in my life than waste my life in fighting this. Therefore, I am not getting involved in this.
I am walking away from it because I have better things to do. So for us, all three approaches are valid. Prabhupada himself used different approaches.
If you look at Prabhupada’s life also. The League of Devotees didn’t work. He just walked away from it.
He could have fought but he chose not to fight. When he was living with in the Mishra Yoga Studio he changed himself. He said you can only do kirtans, you cannot speak.
Prabhupada agreed. But then later on when he had his own institution when something went wrong, he strongly corrected it. It should not be done like this.
Do it like this. So I feel if we have the intention to serve then we will get the guidance about how best to serve in which situation. And the important thing is that we all have to choose our battles.
Our energy is limited. Our time is limited. So there may be many things which need to be set right in our own consciousness internally in our family, in our community, in the movement, in the world.
But we can’t do everything. So we may choose our battles. In some cases we remain silent and change ourselves.
In some cases we say something and try to change it. So in some cases it’s too messy, I walk away from here. All are okay.
The intention to serve is what is important and Krishna can inspire us within and from without through the guidance of some different devotees about how we should act in each situation. So in our practical life where can we apply the concept of destiny? When firstly I would say three levels. When things go wrong for no reason.
Suddenly one thing leads to another. Small issues become so big. Then we understand this has happened because of destiny.
Prabhupada writes in the first Canto Purport that when things go wrong beyond human control there is nothing to regret. When something has gone wrong because of our mistake then we can regret. But sometimes things go wrong beyond human control.
Nothing to regret Prabhupada says at that time. So that’s one situation. Another situation is we make attempts to solve the problem and still the problem doesn’t get solved.
Say for example I have a disease and I go to one doctor, second doctor, third doctor and nothing is working. At that time also we accept this is destiny. So that means destiny what does it do? Basically destiny determines the things that happen to us.
So things that happen to us means certain events just come in our life or certain issues become complicated and problems manifest in our life. Then also we just have to tolerate it. So when things are we make our effort to change things for the better and sometimes things don’t change for the better.
Then that means that that’s the role of destiny. The third is actually a little more dicey. Sometimes by destiny not only external things may happen to us internal things may also happen to us.
Some people may just suddenly experience a relapse in lust, a relapse in greed a relapse in a particular kind of conditioning which they thought has gone away. See karmic reactions come both ways. When an alcoholic starts drinking alcohol regularly at one level they get health complications at another level they also get a very stronger desire for alcohol.
So like that sometimes karmic complications may karmic reactions may come in phases where suddenly the desire heightens up. So when that happens sometimes something bad may happen through us also and it may just be out of character with normally who we are. So even when that happens we just understand okay that happened and we can do what it takes to what we can to prevent it from happening again.
We regret that it happened. But again we have to know that some conditions may just arise in a way that is too powerful. So we don’t keep we don’t trivialize the wrong that happened but at the same time we don’t keep beating ourselves up for the rest of our life for that.
We repent it and we move on. So basically if things are beyond our control we understand that here destiny is involved let me just accept it but when things are in our control to do something about at that time we do have the responsibility to choose how to respond and how to respond in that situation that will be guided by if we have the intention to serve. Does this answer your question?