Many scriptural storylines appear to be predestined – do we really have free will?

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So in many stories, in the Bhagavatam, it seems as if everything is predetermined. Now Prahlad is already known that he is going to be a devotee. He didn’t actually have to worship Shiva, they are already cursed by which they are going to be demons.
So if things are predetermined like this, then what is the scope for free will? There are two different things over here. Scriptures often talk about pastimes which demonstrate principles in their extreme and the purpose is not to standardize the extreme. The purpose is to emphasize a principle.
Just like we see the Ajamil pastime. He just chants one name of Narayan and he is saved from hell. Now this is not to standardize the extreme.
The Bhagavatam’s conclusion is not. All of us can just do whatever we want throughout our life. Make sure at the end of your life you chant Narayan.
That is not the lesson. What Shukadeva Goswami says is that if he chanted once unconsciously and even that helped him so much. So if we chant regularly, consciously, how much more it will benefit us.
So the point is not to standardize the extreme but to emphasize the standard. So similarly when we talk about these pastimes, often they demonstrate an extreme level of things being orchestrated by destiny. But within that there is always free will.
Because the Lord’s pastimes are often orchestrated. In Krishna’s pastimes, who is Yashoda, who is Nanda Maharaj, all that is fixed. There is some variation when he appears at different times and performs different leela.
But much of it is fixed. So that is not the way that things happen all the time. Even within that there are different times when different things are emphasized.
So for example, when Vidura is trying to persuade Dhritarashtra that stop Durdhana. Vidura says, actually you know, if it’s destiny, then what can I do? Then at that time Vidura tells him, destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves. It may be destiny that Durdhana does not listen to you.
But your trying to stop Durdhana is not destiny. It is up to you. So sometimes we may do our best and the result may not come.
That is destiny. But our not doing our best is not destiny. That is our responsibility.
So this is where he puts the thrust on Dhritarashtra. But after the whole war is fought and all his 100 sons are destroyed and at that time Dhritarashtra is lamenting very grievously. At that time Vyasadev comes and Vyasadev tells him that this war was destined.
So now the dynasty is destroyed. Now you just move forward with your life. So again the point is what Vyasadev himself had also come earlier to give Dhritarashtra good instruction.
Stop Durdhana. Vyasadev was also another person who told him. The point is we should always, why is Vyasadev telling him it was destined? See the point is that he should not just be living in lamentation.
He has to do something positive now. So in that sense philosophy is there and there is a purpose of philosophy. The purpose of philosophy is to elevate people’s consciousness.
And at different points, at different stages in a person’s life, in different situations, different aspects of a philosophy may be emphasized. So, you know, if somebody is very attached, then they think I am having a very comfortable life. What is this comfort? You can die at any moment.
You know, everybody’s life is temporary. You may die. Prabhupada would say that to Americans.
You know, you had the example of JFK. He was so popular, so famous and suddenly he died. So somebody is very complacent, you may tell them you can die any moment.
But say somebody has lost a loved one. And at that time you tell them, you know, you have lost one loved one, others are also going to die. It would be monstrously insensitive to do that.
That is the time we are meant to console them. So now it’s true, philosophically speaking, that everybody is going to die. But that is not the time to speak that.
That is the time we speak, you know, how Krishna is there with everyone, Krishna is there with you, Krishna is there with your loved one. And wherever they are, Krishna will guide you, pray to Krishna, take shelter of Krishna. If we do it that way, then we are not only speaking the philosophy, we are speaking the philosophy in a way that serves the purpose of the philosophy.
That is to help people to rise to higher consciousness. So, in scripture, Baldevidya Bhushan talks about this point that if everything is determined by destiny, then scripture itself becomes pointless. Why? Because scripture tells us, do this and don’t do this.
Now, if nothing were in our hands, if everything were destined, then what is the point of scripture telling us these things? The very fact that scripture tells us do this and don’t do this, that means scripture doesn’t implicitly convey that we have free will. Even in past times where there seems to be a past life correlation because of which a person is meant to behave, a person behaves in a particular way, Hiranyakashipu becomes a demon, Prahlad becomes a devotee. See, there are lessons drawn from there and those lessons are also given in scripture.
And you just see Hiranyakashipu who had acquired so much power, so much influence but still he was never satisfied. And that is a result of uncontrolled senses. Therefore, don’t do that.
Don’t chase after things like that. Learn to control the senses. So, there are lessons given in scripture even in past times where there seems to be a high level of predestination involved.
So, scriptural past times where a high level of predestination is involved, they are we could say extreme cases where the Lord orchestrates a lot of things to teach particular lessons. But one of the lessons taught even in those times is that we should act in particular ways and not act in particular ways. And that implies that there is free will.
So, we always have free will and we need to present things in such a way that people are encouraged. So, somebody has committed a mistake and they are already very discouraged. And at that time, you are such a fool.
Why did you commit such a mistake? Then that will discourage them further. So, at that time, instead of emphasizing the fact that they made a mistake, that they misused their free will, we will focus on the fact that Krishna can bring good even out of the bad. Just surrender to Krishna.
Things will work out. So, we have to, so scripture sometimes present things contextually and particular context certain aspects are emphasized. So, we have to see the full gamut of scriptural teaching to understand, to get a balanced picture of things.
Does it answer your question? Thank you, Hare Krishna. Any other question?