When the modes control us, how do we have free will?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So when we act, our actions happen under the three modes.
And even when we act, ultimately everything is happening by Krishna’s will. So sometimes when we act, that is also a reaction to our past actions. So in all this, where does our free will come in? Yes, the modes, we can consider them as a triplet, which multiplies.
There are three primary colors. From those three primary colors, we can have a large number of colors. Like that there are three primary modes, from which there are wide varieties of combinations of modes that we can have.
So now the modes present us choices. But those choices are not compulsions. When we say we act under the modes, that does not mean that we have to act under a particular mode all the time.
Krishna, in the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, when he tells about the three modes, it’s like we could consider three modes as, I have come till this point, and now I have three courses of action. Now I have to go on one of those three courses. If we are practicing bhakti, we can say there is a fourth course of transcendence.
But I have to go on one of those. But which of those, that is up to me. So that means the modes determine the gamut of our choices.
The modes don’t determine our specific choice. So for example, sometimes if there is a multiple choice exam, and sometimes within the multiple choice exam, there is a typing mistake. So that the right answer is not there only in the multiple choice.
So then I look at it, which is the capital of India? There is no Delhi only. So what do I do there? So what has happened over here, the gamut of choices, that is determined by the examiner. But then, which choice the student makes, that is not determined by that five.
Among the five, there is choice. So the student may just say all five are wrong, the student may just add a choice, none of the above. So the point is that the modes don’t determine our specific choice.
The modes provide us a gamut of choices. And within that gamut of choices, if we have repeatedly acted according to a particular mode, then a particular kind of action, we may be more inclined to choose that. But we are not compelled to choose that.
So the capacity to choose always remains with us. The extent of the choice, that may vary. So for example, even if somebody is a compulsive alcoholic, they say I can’t live without alcohol.
But even within alcohol, they may decide, even if somebody says I can’t live without tea. But even within tea, you can take tea which is heavy tea or light tea. Somebody says I can’t live without sugar, but even I want to take sweets.
But even sweets, there are artificial sweeteners, there are natural sweeteners. So even when we talk about compulsion, even within the compulsion, there is choice. And based on how we choose, that compulsion increases or that compulsion decreases.
So the modes determine the scope of our choices, but the specific choice is not determined by the modes. Now as far as the reactions to our past are concerned, yes, the reactions can come internally as the modes. That means the kind of modes that we have, and the kind of behavioral pushings that we get, they are also reactions to our past karma.
But along with that, the reactions to our past karma may also come as particular circumstances. So for example, if I fall sick, then the ambit of my choice may be limited. If I am so sick and if I have flu and I am weak, then I cannot go out of my room.
But what I do inside my room is still free. It’s up to me. I can just sulk and feel sorry for myself, or I can just shout and become gripey and shout at everyone who comes near me.
Or I can try to become more introspective. I can read something. The choice is up to me.
So that’s why whatever reactions come to our past karma, again, they determine our external circumstances. They may also determine our internal inclinations. But they don’t determine our behavior per se.
That is something which we still have the capacity to choose. Yes, everything is ultimately controlled by Krishna. But when we say everything is controlled by Krishna, that means that He sanctions.
He does not force everything. Upadrashta Anumantaj. He is the overseer and the permitter.
He is not the compellor of everything. This is most graphically seen when Krishna goes as a Shanti Doodh to Duryodhana. And here, we see that God fails.
If God is omnipotent, then how can He fail in persuading Duryodhana? But this pastime is actually a testimony to God’s respect for human freedom. So Krishna, rather than forcing Duryodhana to act in a particular way, Krishna appeals to the intelligence of Duryodhana. But Duryodhana doesn’t act according to his intelligence.
So then, Krishna sanctions that. So sanctioning means not necessarily wanting a particular course of action, but allowing a particular course of action. So because we have been given free will, sometimes we may choose to act in ways which are undesirable.
And sometimes, Krishna may allow that. So our free will is always there with us. But based on the ways in which we have used our free will in the past, the extent of the free will may vary.
So if there is a horse which is tied to a pole, now some horses who are known to be very violent, they may be tied with very tight ropes, and the ropes themselves may be very short. Some horses which are known to be friendly, they may be tied with a long rope, they are allowed to move around. So now, all the ropes that are there, they control the horse.
But within the circle, within the radius of that circle, the horses can do various things. Some horses can just strain and strain and strain and strain, and then just injure their legs or injure their necks by that strain. Others, if there is some grass in that area, some food in that area, the others may eat that food over there.
So, to summarize it, whether it is God’s will or whether it is past karma, whether it is our modes, they determine the framework within which we have freedom. But they don’t take away our freedom. The framework of our freedom may be shaped by factors beyond our control.
But our freedom, our capacity to choose is still there. And when we make wise choices, the scope of our freedom increases. Does that answer your question?