Law of Karma – Is our destiny fixed or do we have a choice?

In this article we will try to answer two questions using Law of Karma and how it works in our lives, as per Bhagavad Gita.

These two questions are,

Are We Mere Puppets of Fate? Are our lives predestined?

Can We Really Create Our Own Life? Do We Really Have Free Will?

Science: When we talk about Art, Science and Craft, Art is creative whereas science is analysis and systematic evidence, and Craft is experience, skills and practical learning. Fundamental of science is cause and effect. Science can start with assumptions but will prove whether the assumption is true or false, using observation and evidence.  

Background: Lord Krishna preached Arjun ‘Law of karma’ just before the Mahabharat war. War was between Kauravas (Eldest brother, Duryodhan), who seemed to have unlimited strength and Pandavas (Eldest brother, Yudhirstir), who seemed to have limited strength. Kauravas represented adharma whereas Pandavas represented dharma. It was a war for justice.

 Basic assumptions: Existence of Soul and Rebirth based on Karma is basis of Bhagavad Gita.

Basic assumptions on which teachings of Lord Krishna is based are,

·We are not body but soul

·Every living being on this earth has same soul

·Soul is indestructible

·Soul is immortal and a part of divine whole

·Soul changes body like we change torn clothes

·We can be reborn in any species based on our deeds or Karma

·Soul experiences world through five senses

Objective of any living being is to get out this cycle of life, death and rebirth and move to higher levels

Most of us believe that it was a war between brothers and same could have been avoided. However, Lord Krishna gives more importance to society and to individuals. People follow footsteps of their ideals/role models who they think are great. That is why it was important for these ideals to set right example for the society.

When we talk about Hinduism, God is worshipped in all forms. Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, Goddess Durga are worshipped. Planets, Cow, Snakes, Trees are worshipped. Fire is worshipped, Nirankari (No form God) is worshipped. Hinduism has almost all forms of worships.

Karma are our deeds or action we do in our lives. Results we get in our lives are based on our karma. Intent of what we do has more importance than the result itself.

No one can live on this earth without doing anything/karma. If we decide to do nothing and just sit on the ground, when cold wind blows, we will feel cold. If it carries fragrance of flowers, we will smell it and feel good. If there is a bad smell in the air, we will feel unpleasant and irritated.

Karmas can be carried forward in the next birth. We can be reborn to experience the impact of unfulfilled karma.

We can choose only our actions but we cannot choose the consequences of our actions. Dr. Sheena Iyengar says the something similar in her book ‘The Art of Choosing’. We can experience what we do to others. Karma is based on cause and effect on which science is based.

Law of karma: When we do a karma expecting certain results, there are three possibilities, we get results, we don’t get results or it is neutral. When we don’t get expected results, we feel happy. When we don’t get expected results, we feel sad and angry, hopeless and helpless. When there are no results, we can get confused or lost. We would in turn behave in particular way and get results accordingly. Since we can control only our actions but cannot choose the consequences of our actions, emotional attachment to results can cause us to get trapped in the cycle of rebirth.

For example, your close friend needs your financial help. You help him financially and he is happy. He comes out of the trouble times. One day you need his help and he refuses saying he is not in a position to help. If you expected him to help you because you helped him you feel sad and angry. You may abuse him and result could be damaged relationship. If he helps you in return, you feel good. You behave nicely with him and your relationship becomes stronger (but remember, your relationship is still need based). Your friend is not in a position to help you financially. But he says he will try. Now you are lost and confused because you are not getting a way out of your problems. You helped your friend but he couldn’t help you. Somewhere you expected him to help you. This will lead both of you to get trapped in the cycle of rebirth. To come out of this cycle of life, death and rebirth, you help your friend without any expectations. Attachment to results can cause rebirth.

Akarmani is not doing any karma but doing karma without attachment, as we cannot live in this world without doing any karma.

As we have different forms of God in Hinduism, we have different ways to worship as well. There is Bhakti yog (chanting god’s name), Hatha yog, Aghori (lives in cemetery), Sadhu (who renounce the world), Meditation, Sacrifice (fasting is one way of sacrifice), Meditation and there can be many more methods. Most of them are efforts to control your mind. Mind is a poor master but a great slave. But it is extremely difficult to control our mind. It is extremely flickering and unsteady. Easier is karma yog (Niskam karma) where you do without any attachment to results.

We live in modern world where we liberty to choose our professions. Idea is to do your work you choose without expecting any results, doing complete justice to it. It is about working for the betterment of the society. What would happen when an actor or a cricketer or a celebrity chooses advertisements carefully considering the impact it will have on the society as there are lot of youngsters following him. An advocate helps resolve disputes instead of dragging them in the court and make more money. A politician works for the betterment of his countrymen instead of creating a brand image that will help him stay in power. An organization works focused on their customers needs and satisfaction instead of only profits they would make. What would happen when everyone preformed their duty with utmost diligence?

Hypothetical situation, there is a patient on the bed. His condition is critical. There is only one doctor available and if he doesn’t operate, he would be dead. This doctor has a 100% success rate. No patient has died on the operation table. But this case is different. High chances that patient would lose his life. What do the doctor do? Operate risking his tract record, or wait for someone to do the surgery?

Human life is considered to be precious because we have a thinking mind which helps us differentiate between right and wrong. It is easier for humans to come out of the cycle of rebirth.

There are events that happen around us on which we have no control but our lives are also shaped by decisions we take in our lives. Also, when we face events on which we have no control, how we are going to respond to the situation is in our control. We should all read book “The man’s search for meaning’ by Viktor Frankl. He was a jew psychiatrist who was taken prisoner and put in Nazi camp. He wrote his experience and how he survived in Nazi camp.

Lord Krishna tells Arjun, he had a choice whether to fight the war or not. But he had no control over the results of war. Whether he wins or he loses was not in his control but whether to fight the war or not was his choice. He had to fight because it was his duty for fight for dharma and set an example even if means killing his loved ones and his family members.

On the other hand, Lord Krishan also says that his opponents are already killed by Me. He is only going to be a medium. That means Kauravas were destined to die. It was their karma which led them to war and death. If at any point of time they had left hatred for their Pandav brothers and decided to live peacefully, they would have lived longer.

To summarize, law of karma is similar to cause and effect. It is about doing your duty without getting attached to results. There are events around us which we have little control so we start believing that we have no control over our lives. However, how we respond to those events shape our destiny. Also, we have freedom to make those small choices that shapes our destiny.

Thank you.

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