Happiness will come by destiny without our endeavoring – how do we understand this practically?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So the Bhagavatam says that just as distress comes without our endeavouring so happiness will also come without endeavouring.
Therefore there is no need to endeavour in material life. We can endeavour only for spiritual life, for spiritual growth. So how do we understand this statement? Yes, this is true in the sense that our focus of endeavour should be for spiritual growth.
At the same time, there is also the principle which Shri Prabhupada would quote that nahi suptasya simasya pravishanti mukhe mrugaha that the lion will just keep sleeping or keep lying down on one place. The deer is not going to come in its mouth. The lion has to go and chase the deer.
So similarly we get results not just by sitting and dreaming. We have to put them on. We have to endeavour for it.
So there is the principle of endeavour and there is the principle of over-endeavour. So we see in the Bhagavatam, Parikshit Maharaj as soon as he heard that there were signs of irreligion in his kingdom. Immediately he went on his chariot and started searching and he started countering it.
He did what he could to counter it. That was his duty. So he was not thinking that whatever destiny is going to happen, it will happen.
We see that even Vasudev and Devaki, when Kamsa caught Devaki by the neck, he said, I was about to cut off her head. One of the arguments that Vasudev uses is to stop Kamsa, he says, No, if you destine to die, that can’t be avoided. So what will you gain by killing your own sister? You get only bad karma and your destiny is still going to come.
Now he could have turned that argument around and thought, if Devaki is going to die, anyway she is going to die. So why should I spend so much time arguing with Kamsa? No, he did not do that. Why? Because it was his duty to protect his wife.
So from the perspective of Kamsa, when he was trying to kill Devaki, he was giving up his duty. And then when a person is about to give up his duty, at that time you tell him, By giving up duty, if you think that you can avoid problems, you won’t be able to avoid problems because your destiny is there. So the important point is not destiny.
The important point is duty. We all should stick to our duty. If some problem makes us feel that I should give up my duty and do something irreligious, then no, don’t do it.
Stick to your duty. That’s what Kamsa is, Vasudev is telling Kamsa. But if one starts thinking about destiny, I will not do my duty only.
If Ram and Sita is abducted, will Ram think, oh, it must have been Sita’s destiny that he was abducted. If we start becoming too destiny centered, in fact, that is one of the criticisms of Indian culture by Western civilization. We are too destiny centered.
So if we become too destiny centered, you know, where will we stop? That say, if a baby is crying, should the mother think the baby is crying because of her destiny? We’ll become totally cold hearted by that. So the Bhagavatam’s thrust is that we have to do our duties. There are material duties, there are spiritual duties.
Material duties also need to be done. But we don’t have to over endeavor for them. So our focus should be on spiritual growth.
But that doesn’t mean the material life has to be neglected. So just like at one level we could say that because when we talk about destiny, you know, the destiny determines what happens to us. So when the Bhagavatam says happiness will come, it basically means that just as distress comes, happiness will come.
It means that just as distressful circumstances come in our life, similarly joyful circumstances will also come. Let’s say sometimes some doors close in our life. Some doors will open also.
But even when the door is open, we have to walk through it. So that means that by our past karma, we may get food to eat, but still I have to eat the food. If I don’t open my mouth and eat the food, the food will not come to me.
So the point is that by not doing our duty, that is also a bad karma. That is also adding to the destiny. That is also compounding the negative destiny.
So, for example, if I’m driving a car on a stormy night and so the road is slippery, maybe the lights are not there. This kind of circumstance that is happening, that is my destiny. The distress has come.
Now, if at that time, if I am also reckless in driving, then the likelihood of accident increases. So like I said that, again going back to the point of karma plus daiva plus kala needs to follow. So what the Bhagavatam is saying is that by our past destiny, by our past karma, sometimes some unfavorable circumstances will come.
Sometimes favorable circumstances will come. Sometimes the daiva will work out positively for us. Sometimes the daiva will work out negatively for us.
So don’t bother too much about it. Keep doing your karma and don’t get worked up about it. The focus can be on spiritual growth, but that doesn’t mean material life has to be neglected.
Material life also has to be integrated with our spiritual life. So destiny may come on its own, but when destiny comes on its own, it simply means that the circumstances come, joyful circumstances come, painful circumstances come. But our response is also important.
And further, the Bhagavatam is spoken to a person who is about to die. At one level, we can say we all are about to die. At another level, we also understand that the way Parikshit Maharaj devoted himself to hearing Bhagavatam, seven days continuously, seven days, exclusively, not doing anything else.
He was a great devotee, but still he did not do that throughout his life. Before that, he was doing his royal duties. He was hearing Bhagavatam, he was hearing spiritual wisdom also, but he was not hearing it, giving up everything else and hearing it.
So even in Parikshit Maharaj’s life, there’s a difference in the way he conducted himself in the normal course of life and the way he conducted himself when he was about to die. So that way, Shri Prabhupada himself, he travelled all over the world for preaching. He taught us also that we can die at any moment.
But at the same time, he travelled all over the world. And when it became clear to him that now my life is about to end, that’s what Krishna wants for me, then he stopped and he came back to Vrindavan and he taught by his example how we can absorb ourselves in Krishna wholeheartedly. Prabhupada did not do that.
He could have done that all his life. He could have been absorbed in hearing about Krishna in Vrindavan, never go out of India. He did not do that.
So what am I trying to say by this is that the principle of destiny has to be acknowledged so that we don’t give up our duty. The principle of destiny is not a rationalization for giving up our duty. Two different things.
You know, if I am tempted to give up duty to get some pleasure or to avoid some problem, don’t do that because by destiny that is going to happen. But in the name of destiny, I give up my duty itself. Then that is going to create further bad karma.
So the Vedic culture is always duty centered. And by being duty centered, we create the best possible future for us, no matter whatever destiny is there in our life. Does that address your question?