How is destiny related to karma?

Answer Podcast:

Transcript

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Is the destiny not determined by our karma? So if it is determined, then is it really changeable? So here, we need to know the word karma is multivalent. The word karma has four meanings and which meaning we are using we have to see. Now karma can mean the action that we do.
Karma can mean the reactions that we get. Oh, I am suffering my karma. It means the reaction that we get into our karma.
That is also called as karma. Karma can also mean it is one particular category of action. There are three kinds of actions.
It is karma, vikarma and akarma. So karma is in this case punya karma. Vikarma is paap karma.
And akarma is spiritual karma. So karma can also be one specific type of action. And karma can also refer to the whole system of action reaction.
Nobody can escape karma. Nobody can escape the law of karma. So the word karma can have these four different meanings.
Our actions, the reactions to our actions, one specific type of action and the system of action reaction. So the confusion happens when we do not look at which meaning we are talking about. So karma in the second sense, the reaction that we are going to get, that is largely fixed.
But karma in terms of the actions that we are going to choose, that is not fixed. Karma in terms of the actions that we are going to choose is not fixed. So for example, if I come to a crossroad.
One road is filled with potholes. The other road is smooth. That is fixed.
But which road I choose is not fixed. So what I mean by this is that we all have a certain level of control in our life. It is not absolute control.
So I will give three different examples to illustrate this. Suppose say tonight after this program there is a feast. And I overeat.
I overeat terribly. And next morning I get a stomach upset. Now was the stomach upset because of my destiny? Well, I do not need to bring in destiny over there.
It is not because of destiny. It was because of my stupidity. Because I overate.
So the point is that there are situations when our decisions do matter. And we need to look at what science calls the Occam’s razor. Occam’s razor means you look at the simplest explanation.
The simplest explanation does not work. You look at a more complex explanation. Look at a more complex explanation.
See when the… So if I can explain my stomach upset based on my overeating last night, I do not have to invoke destiny over there. But sometimes I have a perfectly regulated diet and still my health gets spoiled. Still my stomach gets upset.
Then I understand that this is not a reaction to my present action. It is a reaction to my past actions. So when the immediate action is not producing a particular reaction, then we look for a deeper explanation.
So we should not assume that the immediate action has no consequence. If we assume that… Now for example, Ram in the Ramayana, I have written a full article on this on my website, The Spirit Scientist, Destiny. I just recently wrote it.
So Ram when he is exiled to the forest, at that time Lakshman tells him, No, you should not accept this passion. Great injustice. So Ram says, I see that the Kaikeyi who loved me so much, she spoke such harsh words.
So I see that my exile is a will of destiny. And therefore I will not oppose it. So Lakshman is angry and says, This is injustice.
But Ram does not listen to that. He accepts it as a will of destiny. But later on, when Sita is abducted, Ram does not say, No Sita, the abduction is a will of destiny, so I will accept it.
Why is that? Because what is important is not whether something is the will of destiny or not. What is important is what is the right course of action for him. So in the case when Ram was exiled, the right course of action for him was to obey his father.
But when his wife was kidnapped, the right course of action for him was, he has to protect his wife. So the point which I quoted when Vidura tells Duryodhana, O king, destiny determines, not the consequences of, destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves. What that means is, Vidura was telling Duryodhana, that you are the reigning head right now.
The responsibility to avoid the war is on you. Now you have to control Duryodhana. You have to make sure that he doesn’t act viciously.
That he doesn’t continue usurping the kingdom that he has taken from the Pandavas. Now it may well happen that although you put your foot down, still the war occurs. So that is the destiny.
But you are not putting your foot down, you are not opposing it, that is not destiny. So the whole Vedic philosophy encourages us to be dharma centered, not destiny centered. When something happens to us, our question should not be whether this is destiny or this is not destiny.
The question should be, what is my dharma? What is the right thing for me to do right now? So if that right thing to do is to accept the situation, I’ll accept it. If that right thing to do is to change the situation, I’ll strongly change it. So in the case of when he was exiled, Ram accepted.
That was his dharma as a son. But when Arjita was abducted, he responded to it aggressively. Because that was his dharma as a pati, as a husband.
So there are certain things, so the events that happen to us in our life are destined. But how we respond to them is not destined. And the whole purpose of the scriptures, which they tell us to do dharma, that means to choose the right responses.
Does it address your question? Yes, but how we respond is based on our conditioning.