Understanding karma dharma and destiny

Retreat at Ballarat, Session 2

PPT

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. You can see my discussion on from Dharma to Prema.
The topics I’m going to discuss is Karma, Dharma and Daiva. So, Karma has many meanings. One of the meanings is action.
Dharma is our beauty, this confidence. And Daiva is destiny. So, how are these factors related to each other? Many people, especially Western observers, Western critics of Indian religions, they are Indian thoughts and everything, they say that Indians are fatalistic.
Now, fatalism is, as I said, there are many isms. So, fatalism is one ism. So, fatalism basically means that accepting fate to be supreme.
That means fate has organized, decided everything and there’s nothing in our hands. And those who accept fate as supreme, they, at least according to Western schools of thought, they are very passive. They don’t work, they don’t strive.
And because of which, they can’t progress. And that’s why they are overpowered. So, this is the Indian thought system.
There are many thought systems in India. But the Bhakti wisdom, as we see, it is not at all fatalistic. So, fatalism means, you may say that, some people say, kisma ki kuti hai.
My destiny is rotten. So, because of which everything goes wrong in my life, I can’t do anything about it. But, that is not the way of deciding at all.
So, we will look at what is written from the Ramayana, that, where also the same discussion comes in. About what is, what is beyond our hands and what is in our hands. And how we should act.
So, we know that, after Kaikeyi’s mind was poisoned by Mantra, and Kaikeyi demanded from Dashrath, that, send Ram to the forest for 14 minutes and have my son Bharata installed in the kingdom. Dashrath was devastated. And he begged to Kaikeyi, he said, you know, even if it has slighted you, even if it has slighted Bharata, by appointing Ram as the next king, I’ll have Bharata appointed as the king.
But, don’t, don’t send Ram to the forest. I cannot even live without him. This is just a, this is the world we live in.
We exist without the sun. Crops may be able to grow without rains, but, Dashrath will not be able to live without Ram. So, it’s for the sake of Mahayana, don’t let Ram go.
Don’t ask Ram to go to the forest. Dashrath actually believed him so much, he fell at the feet of Kaikeyi and touched her feet, grabbed her and begged her. At that time, Kaikeyi’s mind was completely poisoned.
And she, actually Madurai told Kaikeyi that, if Ram stays in the kingdom, because Ram is so popular, all the courtiers and all the citizens, will just support Ram. And even if Bharata is appointed as the king, Bharata will never be able to get popular support. Support of the public.
So, it’s only if Ram is out of the picture, then Bharata can grant favours and win over the hearts of people. And 42 hours is the minimum time period that Bharata will take to undo the spell that Ram has cast on her. This was her way of looking at things.
So, Kaikeyi was utterly useless and this was had to acquiesce because it was bound as word of honour. We’ll talk about this. Word of honour in our future talks.
But, suffice it to say that when he called Ram, and Ram accepted this very gracefully, in fact, Ram’s response was so heart-rending, he actually, he said, this is not, he turned towards Kaikeyi and said, when Dasak could not speak, for some reason, Kaikeyi spoke on his behalf. As he told Ram, over two hours, he told Kaikeyi, Ram spoke with Ram, he told Kaikeyi, till now, I thought that you have, except you treated me like your own son, that you treated me as the main, you treated me as Bharata. But today I realise, to my sadness, that you have treated me like Bharata.
For, you have treated me like your own son, you would not even need to go to our father to ask for this. You could have told me to go to the forest and I would have done all by myself. Now, in Dasak’s world, his world is, his heart was removed, neither that nor Kaikeyi.
And finally, Ram came out, Ram was part of that, and I was able to protect my father. And, and meanwhile, the news had started spreading. So, as he decided, first he wanted to go, he had come in a royal chariot, but when he went out of the palace, he went out on foot.
As he was going along, he was joined by, by Lakshman. Lakshman also came to know about this. And then, Lakshman, as he was going along, then he first went up, palace of Kaushalya.
And Kaushalya had been fasting that night, doing more blessings, fasting and praying, doing more blessings for Ram when he was going to be coronated as a Prince Rishi in the next age. And, although Ram was externally spoken, still, his mother could immediately see that there is something very seriously wrong. And, he said, Ram said, Ram, why is your face pale? What has happened? And then, Ram told his mother, he said, Ram said, Ram, I am not able to fast.
Kaushalya was shattered. She said, Allah, for so many years, I never had a child. And, because of that, I was very strong.
And, to add to my grief, although I was almost queen, still, I told him that you are a very stable calculator. I told him, you are the greatest job of my life. And today, by sending you to the forest, not only is calculation causing you to suffer, she is causing you to suffer.
He said, for a son, it is equally important to obey not just his father but also his mother. I have already overcome the forest. So, you have to obey your mother also.
So, now I am listening to the feelings of his father. He folded his hand and he says, yes mother, it is not my desire to cause anything, but I have seen from my father’s face that he did not want to do this. He was bound by his law against his own will to do this.
We cannot cause any more grief by disobeying our mother. Then Kaushika said that, now if you don’t want to go to the forest, I cannot do anything. I will also come with you to the forest.
And all this time, Lakshman was observing and Lakshman was bursting with anger, all control in his head. At that time, he laid a down on himself. Actually, he said, this is the time when our father will lose you the most.
No, he is shattered by the way he is sitting right in front of me. So, at this time, if you as a gentleman go out there, he will not be able to survive. But mother, I don’t want to go to the forest.
Now 14 years, he just passed away 14 days. And before you know I will be back here. I am a big worry, who should you have? And Ram Singh said, actually rather than having, rather than letting Kaushika see Darshanath as a unjust king who had done a lot of atrocity, he made, he made Kaushika into a partner, an assistant for Lakshman.
Like what he is doing, is not what he wanted to do. And he is suffering. You need to be there for him.
And he said, with your blessings, I would like to go and I will come back soon. And Kaushika realized that Ram was a big fool in his words. And she finally, she agreed.
She said, as Ram took his leave, they came out of Kaushika’s palace, and at that time Lakshman exploded. He said, how dare you tolerate this great injustice. He says, the kingdom belongs to you and you are entitled to get it.
How can anyone take this kingdom away from you? And before Ram would reply, he said, actually when anyone tries to storm the kingdom, they should be punished. Not that for no friend of yours, you should never go to the forest. Actually, being exiled is a very serious level of punishment.
Now, later on when Bharat comes back to the kingdom, and many years from today, he has to tell somebody, that Ram has been exiled. And she has no idea of the extent of love that is there between the brothers. But at that time, Bharat says, that actually exiling is just the second last before the worst level of punishment.
The highest punishment for a wrongdoer is execution. At least one level before execution is exile. So to have someone exiled, it needs a person of either character as either a very terrible crime, or it’s a very excessive punishment for what you have done.
And Ram didn’t have no comment at all. So, when he says, you should not accept this, you should fight against this, Lakshman said. So at that time, Ram told him, that actually there is no way that my father will ever be sent in exile.
What to speak of my father sending me in exile like this, there is no way that Kalki could have spoken such harsh words which forced my father to send me in exile. Today, when I have heard Kalki speak those words, I have understood that Kalki said, this must be the villain of destiny. Don’t you remember how much Kalki loved me and gave her love for all of us.
My three mothers, they treated us all like each other. All of them were the same. That her love for me was just like the flow of the Ganga.
Lakshman was still angry. He says, that’s what I can’t understand. How in one night the whole Ganga is dried up.
So then Ram comes back and he says, that’s why, when I heard Kalki speak those words, there is no way such a thing could have happened. Such a change could not have happened on his condition. And hence it will be the villain of destiny.
And therefore I have accepted it. Lakshman was still standing with anger. He says, it’s only cowards who accept injustice as destiny and passively let themselves suffer.
Courageous people fight against injustice. They don’t accept injustice as destiny. And Ram says, I am going to the forest not because it is the villain of destiny.
I am going there because it is my father’s instruction. And to follow him is my duty. Lakshman still nods his head and says, actually what kind of father will send his innocent son to the forest for no fault of his.
He says, the king has become blinded by lust. The beauty of his youngest queen has blinded the king and that’s why he has become a puppet in her hands. And there is no need to follow a king who has lost the sense of right or wrong.
Therefore you have no obligation, no need to do darshan to go to the forest. Ram says, my duty as a son is not to question the intent of my father. It is to follow his instruction.
I can see, again Ram is at the same point. Ram is so sensitive, so empathic and seeing from others perspective, he says, Lakshman you should not think such words for your father. He has, he is sending you to the forest in a gainless way at the cost of great pain to himself.
To accuse him that he is blinded by lust is not only terribly wrong for a son to do towards his father, but it is also wrong. The king is sending you to the forest because he is blinded by lust. Lakshman says, there is no need for you to go to the forest.
You are meant to be a king and if anybody stops you from being a king, no, I will fight against them. Whoever, tomorrow morning it will be a coronation and whoever stops it, they will go to Yama’s abode by the arrows of my bow. If the king comes in between, we will have to go to Yama’s abode.
Ram also comes, very careful. He says, oh Lakshman, before your arrows can touch my father, they have to go through my chest. Oh Lakshman, he is so much of trouble.
Ram says, oh Lakshman, in all situations, what is important for us is to decide what is our duty and for me my duty is clear. I have to obey my father so that his honour is protected. He, although he loves him, although he does not want to go to the forest, still because he has given the word of honour, he has, at the cost of great pain to himself, decided to honour the word that he has given him by And for me to honour his word, that is most important.
Therefore I am going to the forest. Then Lakshman realizes he is not going to agree to this argument. Then he makes another argument.
He says, if you are going to the forest, I am going with you. So of course Ram also says, don’t go. They have a nice discussion.
Lakshman loses one argument but he makes sure that he wins the second argument. So he makes sure that he goes with Ram. But suffice it to say here that this tension between accepting something as the love destiny and doing something to change the situation, this is an enduring tension which is there always in our scriptures.
And Ram could be said to be fatalistic. That he was actually, he just passively accepted whatever. But if we see, was Ram fatalistic? Now when Sita was kidnapped, Ram did not say, oh it was the will of destiny that she was kidnapped.
He accepted it. So what did he do? His focus was on, what is my duty? What is my dharma? So when he was exiled, he focused, my dharma is to obey my father. When Sita was abducted, he did not think, what is the will of destiny? He focused on, what is my duty? And he realized that my duty is, I have to protect my wife.
She has been abducted, I have to rescue her. And if he had been fatalistic, sometimes we do not want to do something and say this is the will of destiny. So if he had that kind of attitude, he could have very easily justified it.
He could have said, you know actually I am in the forest, I am alone, I don’t have any resources, I don’t have any freedom. Even I have higher socials, I don’t have any resources, money to hire socials. I don’t even know where Ramana has gone.
And Ramana is a person who has defeated even the Gods. How can I expect him to fight with me? So he could have had so many rationalizations for not doing anything about Sita’s abduction. But he did not accept any of the rationalizations.
In this case, he forgot. So the focus in the Vedic literature, in the Bhakti tradition is on doing our duty. And why doing our duty? If we are tempted away from duty, then we talk about destiny, so that we are stupid.
Let me just give you the next example. Go ahead. Yeah, this is quite a striking example.
You know in the 10th canto, when Vasudev is going along, actually Kamsa is taking Vasudev and Devaki in their charge. Remember it? Vasudev tells Kamsa that many arguments he gives. One of the arguments is, if your death is this time, what will kill Devaki, actually? He tries various arguments.
And when he doesn’t listen to that, what is the argument he uses? That if your death is this time, you may kill Devaki, but that doesn’t mean you are going to die. You are going to die eventually. But the same Vasudev doesn’t think, if Devaki’s death is this time, what am I doing arguing with Vishnu? So why not? Now, if something is this time, when Kamsa’s death can be this time, Devaki’s death can also be this time.
So why does he use the argument in that way and not this way? That’s because the focus is on duty. For him, as a husband, it is his duty to protect his wife. And he will use whatever resources are possible.
So Kamsa was spiritually more powerful than Vasudev. And also at that time, it was Kamsa’s territory. Normally, marriage happens when the bride is here.
And then the bride and groom go to the groom’s place. So they were at that time in Kamsa’s territory. So because of that Vasudev did not want to fight violently.
He would not have been able to be a match to Kamsa. But even if he could have been a match, still, there would have been too much adversarialism. So he did not try to combat him militarily.
But he used arguments. And one of the arguments he used was this. If your death is this time, what will you achieve by staying there? But he doesn’t turn that argument around and think about it himself.
Because he is not concerned whether Devaki’s death is this time or not. He is concerned about what is my duty. That means the Vedic culture is primarily duty centred.
It is not destiny centred. Duty centred means the whole focus is on understanding what is our duty and make that duty. And while doing our duty, there are two possibilities.
One is, either there is a temptation that by giving up duty, we might gain something then such temptation should be resisted. So for Kamsa, we talked about destiny because Kamsa was about to give up his duty. How was Kamsa giving up his duty? He was a brahmin.
Now Brahmins are supposed to protect their destiny. Actually there are three levels at which Kamsa was giving up his duty. First is, for a Kshatriya, he should be protecting citizens and especially women.
Secondly, he was not just a Kshatriya protecting government because the government was Mukesh Maharaj’s own brother. Of course, Kamsa and Devaki were cousins, not exactly brothers and sisters. But still, he was like a sister to Kamsa.
And thirdly, it was her day of marriage. It was a happy occasion, a sacred occasion to cause distress, to cause bloodshed. That is actually very severe, you know.
So Kamsa, being allured by the hope of protecting his life, he was giving up his duty as a brother, he was giving up his duty as a Kshatriya and he was giving up his duty as a king who was supposed to be dynamic and to observe the sanctity of dynamic sentiments. So when he was, because of temptation, giving up duty, at that time, in order to prompt him to seek duty, he reminded him that there is destiny. He was not able to avoid destiny by acting so wrongly, so viciously.
Therefore, the focus is on duty and knowledge of destiny can inspire us to do our duty, then we invoke destiny. But if knowledge of destiny, we invoke to rationalize that I do not need to do my duty, then that is a misunderstanding. So now here I am going to talk about, I am going to talk about karma, dharma and life.
The word karma itself has many meanings. Does karma have many meanings? So karma probably has four meanings. The first meaning of karma is action, what we do.
So we should choose our karma power, that is action. But the word karma also means reaction. We are all suffering the results of our own karma.
Here when we use the word karma, we are referring to the reaction or dharma. Thirdly, we also use the word karma sometimes to refer to the system of action and reaction. That actually the law of karma is infallible.
The law of karma is inescapable. So here what we are referring to karma, it is either action or reaction. It is a system of action and reaction.
And fourthly, the word karma also means one kind of karma. There is karma, there is v-karma and there is a-karma. So karma is right action, v-karma is wrong action and a-karma is transcendental action.
It is action that means no reaction. So then karma is also one kind of action, spice action. So the word karma has many meanings in that sense.
So karma as reaction is also an action. Now that is something which is already fixed. So when we talk about destiny, what exactly do we mean when we say the will of destiny.
So is destiny a person who has a will? Is destiny Krishna himself? Or what exactly is destiny? So in the Mahabharata, Krishna is not referred to as destiny. Krishna is referred to as the lord of destiny. As the lord of destiny.
In the Kurukshetra war on the 10th day when Bhishma falls, at that time Karna had taken a vow that as long as Bhishma is fighting, I will not come under war. So the day Bhishma falls, the next day Karna enters the battle field. And Bhishma is the commander.
So now that Bhishma has fallen, another commander has to be chosen. So the second commander has to be chosen, Duryodhana immediately goes to Karna and tells him, Oh Karna, please command me, I will be your leader soon. So Karna becomes angry and he says, Oh Duryodhana, there are many who because of my birth do not accept me as a leader.
And therefore your making me the commander will not be a good thing. Moreover, since Drona is your teacher, in his presence for you appointing someone else as a leader, he will be very excited. And he has put aside his affection for the commander as fought his wife, which is what we will see for you.
Therefore go and ask him to be your leader. Now Duryodhana also has the same thoughts in mind. But he is cordially securing, between solidifying his friendship with Karna and between continuing the loyalty with Drona.
So Duryodhana actually when he starts off also, when he goes to Karna, Duryodhana is a very good reader of people. But he is a very bad reader of Dharma. So he reads people well and he could understand.
So he actually knows that Karna is not going to be a good thing, not accept the command of Drona. And still he goes to Karna just to endear himself. Duryodhana offered him the command of Drona.
Then he goes to Drona. Now Drona is also in thinking. And Drona, he has been burdened by the thought that now he will have to fight in Duryodhana’s army under the command of Karna.
So he was not at all happy with that thought. So when Duryodhana comes and offers Drona’s command to Drona, Drona agrees. He says, O Prince, you have bestowed a great honour on me and I am pleased with you.
I would like to offer you some benediction. What would you like to have? So he says, now Duryodhana also knows that Drona will be there in the last. He already prepares.
So he says, he knows that, O Acharya, if you would like to do something for me, please arrange to have Yudhishthir arrested alive and not imprisoned. So Drona smiles and says, O Yudhishthir is such a ajat shakti. Yudhishthir is such a vision of everyone that even you do not want him to be killed, you want him alive.
So Drona smiles. He says, no, actually if we kill Yudhishthir, Bhima and Arjuna will go mad and they will destroy our entire army and nothing will be able to protect us. My plan is, after Yudhishthir is arrested, I will have him play another reality match and I will defeat him and send him to exile.
So when Drona heard this, he realizes that Duryodhana is never going to Actually, he says, I will try my very best to have Yudhishthir arrested, but you have to do something for me. He says that, Arjuna, although he is my student, he was still dear student and I have imparted all my knowledge to him. Thereafter, he has performed austerity, sent me to the heavens and got me celestial weapons.
Therefore, if Arjuna comes between me and Yudhishthir, I will not give the arrest. So get Arjuna out of the way and Yudhishthir will be yours. So this conversation happens in public.
So in the war field itself, this is before the war and the war has started. So at that time, there is a Trikarta king Trikarta is a kingdom and the king is Sushant. Sushant says, Arjuna has gone and demonized his kingdom.
So he says, I and my whole army, all my brothers, all my cousins, all of us, we will challenge Arjuna and we will sidetrack him and Dronacharya will capture him. Arjuna will capture Yudhishthir. He says, we will either kill Arjuna or he will die, but we will keep challenging Arjuna and Yudhishthir.
So Dronacharya comes very happy and says, now the whole plan is working. And then, that’s how actually on the 13th day when the Chakra came out, at that time Arjuna has been challenged and drawn aside by Sushant. Of course, this is the 11th day and on the 11th day, Dronacharya’s plan works properly, Arjuna sidetracks and Dronacharya attacks Yudhishthir.
And twice, Yudhishthir, Bhima and Yudhishthir, they all come and nobody can stop Dronacharya. And once, Yudhishthir’s chariot is destroyed, his armour is destroyed and Yudhishthir has to get off his chariot and go towards his And somehow, by the very barest of escapes he has. And second time, it happens, so when the sound goes, a very fierce fight happens.
Yudhishthir also is not a poor warrior, but just compared to Dronacharya, he is no match. So when that fight becomes very fierce, at that time, Bhima realizes that although he is powerful, he is no match to Dronacharya. Whenever he sees other warriors fighting with bow and arrow, when he sees that he is not a match to him, he just puts aside his bow and arrow and just charges him.
Just charges him to the enemy camp. But this time, Bhima is much amazed, attacking so fiercely that he blows his huge conch. And then Arjuna hears of this.
Now Arjuna makes short work of the Susharman and he stuns him and comes back. And just as Drona is about to capture Yudhishthir, Arjuna charges him and Yudhishthir is slain. So the 11th day goes in vain.
Yudhishthir is not arrested. 12th day also goes in vain. And then finally, the 12th day also, nothing happens.
And in the midway, Arjuna is steadily destroying the Tirthankaras. So 12th day turns out to be quite reversal for the Kauravas. Yudhishthir is also not arrested and Arjuna is slaughtering the Tirthankaras.
So back in the evening, Dronacharya comes. He is sleeping with Amudha. And he says to Dronacharya, O Arjuna, I have tried to ease you in all the ways that I can.
But still, although you are on my side, you bear affection for the Pandavas. And therefore, you do not fight wholeheartedly. O Arjuna, if you are too attached to Pandavas and you are not ready to fight, then please step aside.
Let Karna become the commander and he has promised that one day he will destroy the Pandavas. Now, Dronacharya is so angry. It’s like, it’s one thing to say that you are not fighting wholeheartedly.
It’s quite another thing if you step aside, somebody else will be on your side. You know when we have a very difficult team, there is one captain. Anytime the team doesn’t do well, we will call for the captain’s head.
They say somebody else has to be the captain. He could have done so much better. So it’s one thing for, these are the newspaper people who see that.
But if the selection committee head only goes and says thank you to the captain. It’s very You are petty, you are vicious. Because of your selfishness and envy, you ride against those who are working for your cause.
Can’t you see my body is pierced with the wounds of Arjuna’s Gandhi. When faced with Arjuna’s goals, what do you think the son of Sita can do anymore? Dronacharya is so angry. At that time, Dronacharya realizes it’s wrong time.
He doesn’t want to fight. He doesn’t want Dronacharya to abandon the fight. He says, oh, I can at least forgive you for my strong words.
I am distressed because my army is being routed. I know that you are the most competent commander for my army. But please, I have come to you to protect my army.
Otherwise, Arjuna will destroy us. You had promised that you will arrest Vishnu. Two whole days have passed.
I have offered my whole army to you. And yet Vishnu has not been arrested. Dronacharya shakes his head and says, no, we humans can only endeavor.
But the results are going to be very soon. And, oh, I hope you and your family understand that the law of destiny is sitting on the chariot of God. Therefore, whatever you do, we are not going to succeed.
There are two or three occasions in the Mahabharata when Dronacharya becomes sober. On the seventh or eighth day, again he faces a very severe reversal. So that night he goes to Vishnu and he asks him, how is it that we have such great warriors and still we are not winning the war? He says, we are losing.
So at that time, Vishnu asks him, oh Dronacharya, I have tried myself hoarse, speaking the same thing to you for your own good again and again. Yet you have not understood. The prey has been taken.
He says, Krishna is the supreme God. And whoever’s side he is on, that side will be victorious. Even if you have all the Gods on your side in your army, still as long as Mahadeva is on the side of Mahadeva, you will not win because of this.
Dronacharya hears this because that day he faces a severe reversal. That day he had a fierce fight with Bhima and Dronacharya escapes with his life. Oh, he is not alive.
He says, please tell me more about Krishna. And he hears about Krishna and Vishwa speaks. Vishwa says, it’s good of you to verify Krishna.
And he speaks about all the Gods like Krishna, how Krishna killed Vakasa, Nagasa, all the places where Mahabharata talks about Krishna’s past lives. In Mahabharata, they talk so much about Krishna, Mahabharata talks about Krishna and Pandavas. But here, few times they talk like this.
Then that night, when Dronacharya is about to go to sleep, he is thinking about Krishna. He experiences a strange kind of peace that he has not experienced for a long time. He was thinking about Krishna.
Whoever thinks about him, they experience peace like that. And then as he is about to go to sleep, who is about Krishna? Maybe Krishna is God. There is no harm in going down there.
And he goes down to Krishna and then goes to sleep. But by the next morning when he wakes up, again all the energy and selfishness has all come up to the point. The point of my discussion is that Duryodhana never gets the point.
Dronacharya tells him that Krishna is the lord of destiny. So Krishna is not destiny. He is the lord of destiny.
By destiny, what do we mean? Destiny is actually the word that is used to refer to the system of material nature by which we get the reactions to our actions. That means we do certain actions and after we do certain actions, those actions get accumulated as a reservoir. And that reservoir comes upon us at particular times.
So that’s the reservoir of our past karma’s reactions. That reservoir is called as destiny. So in that sense, karma, if you consider the second term as reaction, if you use the word karma as reaction, that is the same as destiny.
When somebody says, oh my destiny is rotten, that simply means that we ourselves have done certain bad things in the past because of which the illegal destiny has arisen. And understanding that destiny is not arbitrary, destiny is not created by some evil god or some evil demon. Destiny comes as a result of our own actions in the past.
When that knowledge is actually empowered. How that is, we will discuss next time. So one thing very important about understanding destiny is never we should use karma to blame the victim.
That means when Sita is kidnapped, Ram doesn’t feel it’s her destiny and Ram certainly doesn’t ever raise the question that what karma she must have done because of which she got it. My own karma makes me do this type of things. No.
Why should not whatever reactions come upon us, we can say at one level they are because of our own karma. But here also we have to recognize that there is no meaning for any system of justice and administration left if those who are meant to be protectors, they start resorting to the idea of karma and destiny. Suppose say a thief comes and robs somebody’s house and they go to the king.
He says I have been robbed. The king says it’s your destiny. Now what is the duty of a king then? The duty of a king is to protect people from being hurt.
Kshatra means hurt. So those who protect people from being hurt, those are Kshatriyas. So if all the hurts for everyone are coming by their own past karma, then what is the duty for a Kshatriya? So the point is when we are living in this world, in this life, we are not meant to judge people for their past life’s actions.
We are not meant to judge people for their past life’s actions. The person has earned his or her hard-earned money and somebody has stolen it. The king is not to think about what somebody may have done in the past life.
He says from this life’s perspective, this is unjust and it needs to be corrected. So when somebody is victimized by the wrong, we should not be thinking what is their karma. We should be thinking of what is my dharma.
What is my duty in this situation? The king should be focused on what is my duty. So when I say what is their karma and what is my dharma, here we are using the word karma in the sense of karmic reactions. We shouldn’t be thinking at all about that.
Our focus should be manually on what is my duty? What is my dharma? Otherwise, if we start thinking in terms of everything in the past karma, then we can become totally heartless. Say, a newborn infant is crying. Naturally, what should the mother do? She will pick up the child, caress the child, fondle the child, pass it on.
If the mother says, why is the karma is good? No, it is utterly heartless. It will completely uproot the nature of the mother’s love for the child. So if we start in our day-to-day livings, to bring in past life karma, then all duty and all love will become meaningless, will become null and void.
This is actually a misunderstanding, which is sometimes perpetuated by those who want to label many cultures. The idea is that, yes, people may have done certain karma in their past lives. It is because of which they create certain reactions.
But our mind is not to judge people for their past actions. Our focus is on what is the right thing for me. And we act accordingly.
And you see, this time and time again, in the scriptures, when the fourth canto, is told by the citizens, we are starving, either way it is our mind that is hungry. Please help us. The Buddha doesn’t say that, it is all by our karma that he works.
No, he didn’t say that. He really works to provide for us. So the way culture, there is an understanding, that sometimes, even after doing our best efforts, we may not get a particular result.
Then we understand this is the will of destiny. So sometimes we may strive very hard, strive repeatedly for something, and despite it repeatedly things don’t work out. So after we have done our karma, if the result don’t come out, then we understand that this is the will of destiny.
But if we don’t do our karma only, if we don’t do our duty and say this is the will of destiny, then we are rationalizing our own irresponsibility. So there are broadly two schools of thought. There is Karmavar and there is Daimavar.
So Karmavar is the idea that everything is in my hands. And that is the current idea. In modern history, everything is in my hands.
By the sweat of my brow, by the brilliance of my brain, I have achieved this, I have achieved that. And yes, certainly our sweat, our intuition, they are all important. But if we introspect, we find that our hard work alone is not written in the script.
Our hard work is important, but so many other factors have worked out right by which we get this. So Karmavar is the idea that everything is in my hands. And Daimavar is the other experience which says that nothing is in my hands.
So now, Karmavar can lead to arrogance and Daimavar can lead to apathy. When a person just does nothing, becomes lazy, becomes lethargic, becomes apathetic, nothing is in my hands. Now the meaning of this, I don’t know.
If you consider a pendulum, Karmavar is one extreme of a pendulum where we think that everything is in our own hands. And Daimavar is the other extreme of the pendulum where we think that nothing is in my hands. The proper understanding is… Okay, go ahead.
So, actually we make our destiny by our karma, by our actions. So in Mahabharata, going back into the Mahabharata, at one time, Vidura is strongly challenging. Vidura is telling him that you should stop Duryodhana from his stubborn obstinacy because of which he wants to fight this war.
He will fight this war and a whole new dynasty will destroy him. So at that time, Vidura tries to rationalize his possibility by saying that, If it is the will of almighty destiny that I have to destroy, then who am I to stop the will of almighty destiny? This is almighty Bhuji. Vidura tells us that destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves.
Destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves. I come to give a class and I am not prepared at all. I just slabber and say something, I think that was the destiny.
That was our destiny. Someday I will come well prepared for the class and I will forget something, forget the policy. That we can say is destiny.
But if I don’t prepare at all, then I cannot gain destiny. That is my responsibility. So the destiny determines the consequences of our actions.
Destiny doesn’t determine our actions. We have the capacity to choose our actions. And to be responsible means to choose our actions wisely.
So Vidura is telling Dhritarashtra that, Yes, it may well be that my destiny is which this war is going to take place and the Kuru dynasty will be destroyed. But the important thing is not what is destiny itself. The important thing is what is your intention.
As the ruling head of the Kuru dynasty, it is your intention to do everything in your power to stop the war. And if you do it, then you will not be consoled. Even whatever the results come after this.
So to understand this, an example is in the Puranas. How the three things play? There is Karma and Daiva. There is Karma, Daiva, Kala and Pala.
All these, so Karma plus Daiva plus Kala, it gives Pala. Is that an explanation? No, don’t worry. So Karma, Daiva and Kala, all these three come together.
Karma plus Daiva plus Kala, that gives Pala. Pala is the fruit. A simple example would be like this.
An agricultural example. A farmer ploughs the land and sows the seed. That is the Karma.
Then after that, rains come. Appropriate quantity at the right time. That is the Daiva.
And by the rains, the crops grow. And eventually, after a few months pass, the harvesting season comes. And then the farmer gets the Pala.
So Pala is a result of Karma, Daiva, Kala. All these three come together. Karma plus Daiva plus Kala, that gives Pala.
So, say a student is studying for exams. Studying diligently is the Karma. Then the Daiva or say some parents want to have a child.
So then they have to move their child. And then sometimes a little bit of destiny, that pregnancy, conception occurs. And then after also, several months have to pass.
Kala. And then the child is born. So in all activities we see, there is the human element and there is the element which is beyond human form.
That is broadly called the Daiva. And even when Karma and Daiva come together, after that also some time has to pass. And then eventually the result comes.
So, if we consider these three factors involved, so Daiva world thinks that only Daiva matters. But if the farmer has not grown the land, the farmer has not sown the seeds, by destiny rains will come. But the rains will not lead to crops growing, the rains will simply lead to weeds growing.
Why? Because there is no… The Karma has not been there. In contrast, if we see that someone may do the farm, the farmer may do the Karma very well. But after that, if the Daiva is not there, the farmer may sow the seeds, may plough the land, but the rains will not come.
And again, the farmer will not come. So, Karma world is the misconception that our Karma determines the results, which is not true. Daiva world is the misconception that nothing is natural, which also not.
We have to do our work. Now, in some situations, if we do our work, we do Karma, but the Daiva is not favourable, it is still unfavourable, then we don’t get the result. And then we may feel that my Karma has gone away.
All the labour that I did, what did I get by it? I did not earn. But it’s not like that. Remember, our Karma does two things.
If the Daiva is favourable, then the Karma gives the result. But, even if the Daiva is not favourable, our present Karma also contributes to our future Daiva. Our Karma, whatever activity, whatever duty that we are doing right now, that is contributing to our future destiny, the stockpile of destiny.
And that way, whatever work we do, it never goes in vain. Whatever duty we may do, it may not produce any results in the world’s activity. But no work is properly done, never goes in vain.
And that is an important point for us to understand when we are doing duty, good. So, there is a difference between detachment and irresponsibility. Detachment is basically that we are not obsessed with the work after we have done the work.
Okay, I have given my exam, and after the exam, till the result, I am mostly what is going to be the result? Don’t be emotional. You have done your part, now move on to other things. But irresponsibility means I have got to study more.
So, detachment is primarily after the work. Irresponsibility is before the work. So, detachment means recognizing that once I have done my karma, there are other factors which will determine the result.
So, therefore, I am not being obsessed with the result. And irresponsibility means I think that I don’t have anything to do. So, if we properly understand karma, how all we need to follow, then we can be detached without becoming irresponsible.
And here it is important that when the scriptures talk about detachment, often they talk about how one should not be attached to one’s family, one’s children, one’s wealth, one’s house, all these things. This is important from a transcendental perspective to focus our attachment on Krishna. But at the same time, if a culture of attachment, if the message of detachment is given without understanding a culture of responsibility, then detachment becomes a rationalized view of responsibility.
That means, basically, the idea is that our conscience, I’ll talk about this more in detail, but our conscience expands through our relationships. Now, if I am all alone and I don’t have to worry about anything, I can eat whenever I want, I can go wherever I want, I can do whatever I want. Once we start developing relationships, we have to start thinking of other people.
And that brings us out of ourselves. We become selfless. And every relationship that we form, it’s a committed relationship, it brings us more and more out of ourselves.
Now, if people are stopping this development of oneself at the level of the family, that means, yes, we should be selfless and we should be selfless in terms of family. We should go beyond that But when people are stopping at the level of family, that’s all I need to do. Then the bhakta will say, go beyond this.
Don’t stay stuck over here. But somebody who has not come out of oneself only. Now, for that person, that means somebody who is given a basic sense of responsibility, for them, the message of detachment was given, often, they, in the name of becoming detached, they sink more into themselves.
They become more self-centered. They actually become irresponsible. So, detachment is to never be used to rationalize irresponsibility.
We all have our duties. And detachment comes from recognizing that there is more to our life than our social responsibility, the family responsibility. It is not by thinking that there is less to life than my social responsibility.
It is, there is irresponsibility, there is material responsibility and there is spiritual responsibility. So, what scripture tells us is, don’t stay stuck with your material responsibility at all. Recognize your spiritual responsibility also.
But, if people have not even taken up their material responsibilities and they don’t become detached, they become detached from this, not to become attached to Krishna, but to become attached to their own selves. In a way, they become self-centered. And that can, that is, it is detrimental for all spiritual growth.
It is also detrimental for social order. When people become more and more selfish, then, then even material order can’t be maintained. What is the spiritual order we need? So, for example, nowadays people have little relationships.
They don’t even get married. Bhagavatam says, don’t be attached to your family. People today are not attached to their families.
But they are not at the level of Bhagavatam. They are delimited to the level of animal spirit. Because, of course, why people want to have little relationships, that’s a whole complex, today’s sociological reality is quite complex.
But the point is, that here people don’t want to enter into conflicts. And this not wanting to enter into conflict, not wanting to take up responsibilities, this is not detachment. This is, as I told you in the morning, Sattva Guna and Tamoguna look similar.
But they are very different. So, so detachment is in Sattva Guna. Irresponsibility is in Tamoguna.
In both cases, people may say that, oh, I’m not, like once it happened, like one devotee had gone on a distribution. And after distributing books, he has lost all the Lakshmi to him. And then he came back, he told his husband, he said, I lost all the Lakshmi.
What? You lost all the Lakshmi? He said, don’t get so angry, don’t get so upset. Krishna has told in the Bhagavad Gita, you should be equally poised to gain and loss. Well, yes, Krishna has told that, but if you had lost your own money, would you have been so equally poised? So, so we all have our attachments.
And we may artificially use selective parts of the philosophy to justify our own way of living. So that is it. Then you can’t make spiritual advancement by that.
So detachment is important, no doubt. But there is a very significant difference between detachment and irresponsibility. And when we say detachment, detachment means we are not limited by our worldly relationships.
We, as consciousness, go beyond those relationships to Krishna. Whereas irresponsibility means we are not expanded even to our worldly relationships. We are caught in ourselves only.
And that is not at all conducive for the growth of one’s consciousness. And this relates to another similar point, the difference between fruits and bones. The Bhagavad Gita says, कर्मन्यवादिवारस्ते ना परेशु कराजु We work, but we are detached.
But we don’t get attached to fruits or work. Some people say, this is completely impractical. How can we do this? Is it that, let’s say, if I am studying for my exams, should I not think that oh, I will do well in my exams, then I will get good marks, and I will have a good career? How can we even work, even if someone is complaining? Should I not think, oh, I should go to high school? People don’t understand the mood of this world properly.
It can appear entirely impractical. There is a difference between fruits and bones. Now, bones come before we do the work.
Fruits come after we have done the work. The Bhagavad Gita is telling us to be detached from fruits, not from bones. Now, we all need to set goals.
When Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, and Arjuna himself, he was setting goals in the Kumbh Kshetra war. Every day, when they would meet at the start of the war, they would say, damn it, I will do this today, I will do this today, I will do this today. Most famously, on the 14th day, when Arjuna took a vow, that today, I will see Jaya Duryodhana before sunset.
That’s a goal. And Krishna did not tell Arjuna, hey, you have forgotten karma, and you have also not seen it. Krishna did not tell him.
Krishna assisted Arjuna in fulfilling his goal. So, goals help us to concentrate our energy on our actions, to concentrate our focus on our actions. And as I said, the Vedic culture is duty-centered.
And so, if goals can inspire us to focus on our duty, goals are desirable. We should focus on goals. On the other hand, fruits, that means, after I have done something, I think, will I get this or not, will I get this or not, will I get this or not, that attachment to the fruits, that distracts us from whatever action we are doing.
Say, I have done one activity, and I am depending on, daiva and kaal, daiva and kaal will triple, whether the result will come or not. So, at that time, now what is the next thing I am going to get from the fruit? If I am thinking about what I have done, whether the result will come or not, what will happen, what will happen, then I am distracted from what I am trying to do. So, in that sense, the detachment, we have to detach from the goals, sorry, we have to detach from the fruits, that doesn’t mean that we should not set the goals.
The focus is on, there is a human element propagandized in the first Sanford Standard Pipeline, that when things go wrong by factors beyond human control, then there is nothing to manage. That means, we have done our part, and after doing our part, things have gone wrong. Then there is nothing to manage.
Because we have done our part. If we have not done our part already, then definitely, there is something wrong, we should manage. Go ahead.
So, what is the exact import of Paramahansa Yogananda’s statement, that our work is not the sole producer or cause of a linearly produced result. That means, it is not that I do the work and I get the result. It is not as simple as that.
So many factors, beyond our own work, they contribute to the result. So, life works often in subtle ways. A child, in Dhamari, a child goes to the orchard, he goes to the orchard and says, brother, apple tree.
The child shakes the apple, and looking at the moment, like an apple. Now, no apples fall, but not even three mangoes. But a child is so caught in looking at the apple, and looking for the apple, the child will see the mango.
So, like that, what happens in our life is, that often, if we are too caught with getting a particular result, with seeking a particular result, then Krishna may answer our prayers, but his answers may not be exactly what we expect. And if we are too caught to attach to the result, we may not open to his answers. When we pray to Krishna, actually, if we get time, I’ll talk more about prayers, but just one point about prayers.
That, when we pray, there is an implicit understanding that God, we accept God’s power. God is very powerful. Krishna is omnipotent.
So, he has the power to do what I can’t do. And therefore, we are praying to him to give us a particular result. To do for us something which we are not able to do.
That is good. At the same time, we also can consider this point that not only is Krishna’s power greater than ours, but Krishna’s intelligence is also greater than ours. So, when we pray to Krishna that you please arrange for this to happen, you give me this result.
Basically, when you are saying, Krishna, let’s talk about partnership, my intelligence, and your power. But Krishna will always go like this. We are basically, when we make, when we say conditional prayers, Krishna, please give this.
Then, we are half trusting Krishna. We are trusting his intelligence, we are trusting his power, but what does it mean? Krishna is omnipotent and Krishna is also omniscient. So, when we pray to Krishna, then, yes, we can reach.
This is the problem I am having. This is what I can be the best solution. But, whatever happens, please, give me the strength to serve you.
Please give me the intelligence how I can serve you. When Prabhupada asked, what is the best way I can offer? Krishna said, please give me the strength to serve you. That is the best way.
Please give me the strength to serve you. Strength, of course, means determination, intelligence, capacity to complete, something to happen. So, when we work in our life, at that time, we, we have certain problems and we are doing our duty.
But while doing our duty, sometimes, things may not work out the way we wanted. And if we are too attached to a particular result, then, not getting the result on our terms can agitate us so much that the result may come out on some other terms and we will not go through that. So, I will conclude this story.
This story is from the Mahabharata. Most of us know the story of how Duryodhana manipulated Dusha, Durvasa Muni, to go to the Mandavas and develop the forest. And he told him, go in the noon, after Draupadi.
He did not tell after Draupadi, but that was his plan. So, the Akshaya Partha would not give any food after Draupadi had eaten. And that was the time when Durvasa Muni came.
When Durvasa Muni came, she was filled with anxiety about what to do now. And then Durvasa Muni came with hundreds of thousands of disciples. And then he said, I will take one because I am going to take bath.
And as he went to take bath, Akshaya turned to him and said, what to do? So, he said, actually, I have already eaten. Don’t know. So, let’s pray to Krishna.
And she prayed desperately to Krishna. And if Krishna please help us, please, please help us so that we can save ourselves. So, and Draupadi, even better, Krishna came to her.
And Krishna told Draupadi, Draupadi, I am very hungry. Please give me some food. Because when Draupadi was asking for an apple to go down, she had a big stomach already.
She said, it’s one thing that I am not able to feed my children. It’s such a terrible thing that I am not able to feed my lot of children. So, it seems that Draupadi’s problem increased when she prayed to Krishna.
She said, Krishna, please don’t make fun of me. I called you. Because we don’t have any food.
And we need help. So, Krishna came to her. And said, just go and check behind Rakshaya Parthiva.
See if something is there. And then he went over there and he saw, she saw, she went over there and saw that one morsel. You see, Krishna gave nothing.
Nothing. It’s just one morsel. It cannot do.
Just give me that morsel. And Krishna took that one morsel and he ate it. And as soon as he ate it, he started feeling sensitive.
Not only was he feeling sensitive, suddenly, all the sages when they were begging the forest, they said, what happened? They fell. And they felt, they felt alarmed. Because, you know, if you ask someone, I am going for you out of the house for lunch, then they don’t know anything.
It’s at the very least, very disgusting. And they thought, what should we do? They all looked at each other and one of them said, you can get that one and he got the thing. And he went over there.
Now, interestingly here, normally here, the focus of the story is on how by satisfying Krishna, everyone gets satisfied. That is definitely one important lesson in the story. But there are several other moments.
See, Draupadi was well-treated, housewife. How did she leave one morsel of grain on that Akshaya Parthi? The Akshaya Parthi is also not like some ordinary mess. Sometimes you may have some ordinary cups and plates which you may not think.
But if you have a golden plate, which is only on special occasions, which is very pleasant for us, we wouldn’t need any more morsel of grain. So how did this morsel of grain stay with her? Draupadi did not expect it to be. She thought, it’s already over.
So, apparently, the way it is that that day, Draupadi over-cooked, cleaned it properly. The Bhogacharya trusted to clean. So it was apparently a mistake.
But Krishna is so expert that even through our mistakes, he can bring out good for us. So Krishna used Draupadi’s apparent mistake of not cleaning the pot properly, the Akshaya Parthi properly. He used it to solve her problem.
But, the important point is, Draupadi was open to Krishna’s plan. When Krishna told Draupadi, go and see something is there in the Akshaya Parthi. Draupadi went and said, nothing is there.
She had asked for food. Krishna did not give food directly. But Krishna arranged food for her in the Akshaya Parthi.
And so, we may shake an apple tree and a mango before dinner. That means, our prayers may be answered in ways that we did not expect. And that is where if our attachment is to the fruits, then we will not see the other answers, the other ways in which our prayers are answered.
If we are doing our work and if we are focused only on one particular fruit, certainly we should have goals and we should focus on our goals. But, after we have done our work, if we are too caught in the result, in a particular way, and if Krishna answers in a different way, we will be close to that. That’s why, when Krishna says to be detached from the fruits, that is at the second chapter, he says, he is talking about Karmanna.
But as the Bhagavad Gita flows forward, this Karmannavadi verse comes in 2.47. But, later on, as we see, the Vita’s flow moves forward, Krishna says that offer the fruits of your work to me. He says, whatever work you do, Krishna is not saying, be detached from the fruit. He says, offer the fruits of your work to me.
That means, essentially, become attached to me. Madhaparma. Madhkarmakrun At one level, we can develop by understanding that I allow to not predict the results.
With that philosophical knowledge, we can develop detachment from the results. And that also works. But the Bhagavad Gita just goes forward.
Our focus is that we want to be detached from the fruits so that we can be attached to Krishna. Our goal is not just to be detached from the fruits. Our goal is to be attached to Krishna.
And when we are attached to Krishna, then whatever way Krishna answers our prayers, whatever way Krishna responds to our efforts, we should be open to that. this was actually Sri Raghupat Seshadra. One more second.
Yeah. So, spiritual knowledge is actually empowering. How is it empowering? It keeps our focus on that which is in our control, that is our efforts.
So, John F. Kennedy, he was president of America, he would say, ask not what the nation has done for you, ask what you have done for the nation. So, we live in a culture which is very entitlement centered, we think I am entitled to this, I am entitled to that, I am entitled to that, especially when the parents are ready to do, when the children grow up, children often develop entitlement complexes, I should have this, I should have this, I should have that, I should have that, and when we have an entitlement mentality, then when things don’t go our way, we just can’t take it, and when we realize, things will not go our way. So, if our focus is not on what we are getting, but on what we are doing, what we are getting is not in our control, but what we are doing is not in our control.
So, when we understand properly the relationship of how karma, daiva, kaala, all of them together produce kaala, in this we understand what is in our control, and if we can focus on the karma, and we can use our model of daiva to increase our focus on karma, then we can actually put in our lessons, because if we are always distracted, if I do this, will the result come, will the result not come, should I do this, should I not do this, we just get caught in that internal dissipation of our energy. So, when we have to focus on philosophical knowledge, we focus on that which is not there. So, there are two ways in which karma path will increase our focus.
One is, if karma doesn’t come out, then either we blame others because you didn’t work out, because you didn’t work out, and people can become snappy, people can become vicious, people can become malicious, because they think that I deserve the result, I did the work, but they killed me. Instead of blaming others too much. Other extreme is, if we don’t blame others, we blame ourselves.
I am good for nothing, I am useless. And nowadays, often psychologists, psychiatric people, they also make business. So, what happens? People have anxiety.
We live in a society where everybody has anxiety. Life is like that. One day you go to psychiatry and they say you have social anxiety disorder.
What is that? That’s only anxiety. We feel inadequate. Am I good enough? We live in such a competitive world that everybody at different times feel inadequate.
What do we have? We have an integrity complex. So, what should I do about it? Come to my psychiatric counseling session. Pay something like 100-500 dollars.
It’s all. Yes, in some cases, we have severe brain disorder problems. If there is a chemical imbalance in the brain, at that time, definitely one may need medical intervention.
But, if we start looking for humans or for chemical solutions to human problems, anxiety, feeling of inadequacy is a human problem. Being a human being itself means that we are not good. And that’s why we have these awkward situations where we think I’m not adequate enough to be in this situation.
So, that is a problem which we need to solve and try and think of a solution. We are not the controllers. So, when we think I’m the controller and then we find that I’m not even in control, either I lash out at those who are not in control.
So, let me focus on that which is my control and let me leave that which is not my control in Krishna’s words. So, Krishna will give us the results in these terms which will often be better than what he gives or he could have done. So, Krishna will give us the which will be better than what he gives.
So, let me leave that which is not control. So, let me leave that which is not my control. So, which is not my control.
let me my So, leave that which is not my control. So, let me leave that which is not my control. So, let me leave that which is not my control.
So, We can also control other worldly things. Let let me which is not my control. So, let me leave that which is not my control.
So, So, even if Shraddha Upadhyaya is a lonely figure, walking on the streets of New North, unknown battle area, even at that time he was successful. Because, he was still serving Krishna. Still chanting Krishna’s name.
Still speaking in Bhagavad Gita, writing his Bhagavad Gita. Still talking about Krishna’s Bhagavad Gita. And Krishna, in his own time, worked out amazingly how… Prabhupada, later in the 1970s, said, Actually, I want my success to exceed my expectations.
He said, I dreamt that there will be a temple that will have a sheer number of devotees, a sheer number of temples that will establish the Swadhisthana. So, if we focus on Krishna and start with this Krishna, then we will not be discouraged when we go to Krishna’s residence. If we do not focus on Krishna’s name, and in Krishna’s time, we dwell on things else.
So, I have summarized, started by talking about how, whether, we go back to Krishna. We discussed about Karma, Daiva, and that was our topic. So, We discussed about how Ram very gracefully accepted Ashwath Sen.
And Lakshman said that you are misusing justice as destiny. Ram said, I am concerned not about destiny, but about what you do. And that, my father gave me his instruction that, at Kankai’s love, Kankai, despite having some self respect, spoke like this.
All this will turn out to be what you want it to be. So, his focus was not on destiny. His focus was not on destiny.
And he talked about destiny, so that he could, he could muster his determination to do an unexpectedly challenging duty that was passed on to him. He was expected to become the king, but suddenly he was told no, of course, this must be done by destiny. So, he took that up because of his commitment to duty.
So, when we discussed about father’s commitment to him, that he did not make, that he was not fatal in the sense of not, of thinking that nothing is in my hand. No, when Sita was abducted, he immediately, what he had to solve, he had no resources to fight. Because his focus was on, first case, what was his duty to his father, second case, what was his duty to his wife.
So, his focus was always duty centered, not destiny centered. And he said that, the same philosophical knowledge, if it discourages from destiny, one do not consider that. So, also they were not thinking that, Devaki is destined this time, what am I going to say about it.
No, he considered, what is my duty? It is to protect my life. And therefore, I will use all possible means, including philosophical arguments, centered on destiny. So, our focus of philosophical knowledge also, it means to increase our commitment to our duty.
To what we can do right now. And Kamsa was going away from his duty, that’s what the person reminded him of his duty. Can we discuss about how? When we talk about destiny, how is it related to karma? So, karma means action, reaction, system of action, reaction, and one category of action, a good action.
So, the reaction that we get to our karma, they comprise our destiny. And in that sense, our destiny is also created by us. And our future destiny is created by us to our present actions.
So, destiny, on one side, should not be used to give up our duty. And certainly, destiny should not be used ever, to blame those who are suffering, those who have been victimized. The point is that, destiny is meant to inspire us to do our duty, not to give up our duty.
And we will be discussing that connection elaborately about how, how it produces us. So, karma plus daiva plus phala produces phala. Just like a farmer sowing the seeds is the karma, the rain sometimes is the daiva, then the acid of the time, till the crops do not harvest, that is the phala.
And then phala comes in. So, in this, people may go to various extremes. They also think that, everything is in my hands.
They think karma is supreme. So, let me take this hand, because sometimes, this phala doesn’t work. And, the other extreme is, the daiva is supreme.
That is also wrong, because, daiva, even if it is favorable, if we don’t do our work, the result won’t come. And, as I said, if somebody uses daiva to give up karma, then that is irresponsible. Destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves.
That’s what Nidhara does with Rashi. And then, in this connection, we actually discuss about the difference between consequences of action and action. That, two things, irresponsibility means that we don’t do our actions only.
It is wrong. Detachment means, after we get out of our actions, we don’t keep obsessing over things. We stay focused on whatever makes absolutely happen.
In the same way, we should be detached from the fruits of our work. We should not be apathetic about setting goals. Because goals enable us to focus on our actions.
And Arjuna said both of them. And we discussed in this connection, from the Mahabharata, about how Krishna is not destiny, he is the lord of destiny. This is what Nidharacharya’s incident contained.
So, Krishna is the lord of destiny, and he can orchestrate destiny in ways that we may not expect. We cannot work for him. That connection we discussed today.
Yeah. So, when Krishna says, karmanye vadhika, what that means is, it’s not that work A produces the result B. There is not necessarily a linear cause of it. There are other factors involved.
And Krishna can orchestrate those factors in different ways. So, we may shake our apple tree and we may get an apple. It can be opened.
You see that. I’m going to be crippled by the time. Similarly, we see that Draupadi prayed to Krishna for food.
Krishna did not eat food. But Krishna orchestrated it in such a way that the parent mistake in living amongst the brain, through that, her need for food was satisfied. So, if we are too attached to a fruit, a particular fruit, then we are no longer open to Krishna’s plan.
So, Bhakti talks not just about, Karma Yoga talks about attachment for fruits. Whereas, Bhakti talks not just about attachment for fruits, it talks about attachment to Krishna. We are attached to Krishna, so whatever plan Krishna works out, we will be open to that.
And the spiritual knowledge of this whole interaction of karma, karma, is empowering because it enables us to focus on that in our own actions. If we think that the results are determined by us, then the results don’t come, then we go, then we demand the results come, and we are not entirely moving ahead. And when the results don’t come, we become, become, as the poet says, we become either externally malicious towards others, or internally, we become depressed, we become pessimistic, we have a dirty complex.
All this happens because we don’t understand our Krishna. But if we understand that, there is something in my hand, there is something outside my hands. We focus on that which is in our hands, and we leave the rest to Krishna’s hands.
Then we can actually act as enthusiastically and as workingly, as is possible for us in this world. So, thank you very much. Thank you Krishna.
Okay, I know this is going to have a lot of questions. So we have, I’ll tell you what our plan was. Our plan was that I was supposed to teach at 4.45, and then from 3.50, 3.50 we had a break, and then with some people in 3.50 we started our class.
Then we go on till around 6.30. And then, 6.40, then we would have some question and answers. But just broadly speaking, how many of you have questions? So, what do we do? Okay. So we could do one thing.
Our next session, we are going to have a question and answer session tomorrow. Instead of that, we can have a class tomorrow, and we can have a question and answer session tomorrow. So we can have a 10-15 minute break, 15 minutes break, and we can assemble back, and then we can have questions.
Normally we have a half an hour class. Is that okay? I could feel you. Perfect.
Okay, fine. Thank you.