Karma & Free will
With more than 1000 years of Islamic & British rule the Ibrahimic/Abrahamic beliefs have entered the Hindu psyche. To add, Bollywood (Hindi film industry) caused further damage to the Hindu mindset, with all successful dialogues & lyrics writers (Kadar Khan, Hasrat Jaipuri, Salim Khan, Javed Akhtar etc.) hailed from the muslim community as Urdu is actually the preferred language of Bollywood. But wait a minute, why Bollywood? can Bollywood influence the masses in India to this extent? Does it deserve even a mention? Yes, the influence Bollywood has in India is mind-boggling and one can't be oblivious to it. The two things that capture the imagination of kids as well as adults in India are Bollywood and Cricket.
In Hindi movies we keep hearing that how someone died or how an unfavourable outcome was the result of "Bhagwan/Khudah ki marzee" (God's wish) or how even a leaf cannot move without God’s will. Such nonsense was never entertained in the earlier Vedic era & was never a part of Vedic teachings. I've seen a renowned muslim actor who while playing a Hindu character is often seen in the movie doing "Salaam" & "Adab" an Arabic greeting gesture instead of Namaste, Namaskara or Pranaam.
Muslims do not consider themselves responsible for what happens to them but rather ascribe everything to the will of Allah. They believe that human actions are being watched and recorded for final judgment on the "Day of Judgment (yome-ud-din)". As a result muslims do not endeavour to change anything & facts speak for themselves. Islamic countries are poor (unless they have found oil, a natural resource formed during the Carboniferous period under the ground) & lag behind while all other nations are advancing in Science and technology. It is up to us to create wealth. When faced with calamities and natural disasters, we do not hide our heads under the sand saying it was the will of God/Allah. Rather we try to find ways to beat those calamities through science and technology, for eg. through remote sensing and Earth observation satellite programs (IRS, INSAT, IRNSS, RISAT, Cartosat etc.), we were able to save lakhs of lives by being well prepared for the 2nd strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall in India “Phailin” that hit east coast of India on October 12, 2013. Death toll during cyclone "Phailin" was a mere 44 as compared to 200000 people (yup two lakh people) lost their lives when cyclone “Bhola” struck the same region on November 12,1970. Science & technology can advance only through Purushaarth (free-will).
Today we may call the outcome of our activities & events in our lives as fate, destiny, or use Urdu/Arabic terms like kismath, taqdeer, naseeb, muqaddar and other such nomenclatures, but what we should understand here is that the outcome is the result of Karma & NOT God's wish/will/intervention. WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERYTHING WE DO. In his book "The Jain Doctrine of Karma and the Science of the Genetics" the author Dr Sohan Raj Tater states there are two kinds of determinants of body processes and behaviour of organisms, one is Karma and the other is genes. Karma directs, instructs, motivate genetic codes and genes to function and mutate accordingly. Karma is the cause and genes is the effect. Prarabdh determines the form of body one takes in this life and the type of environment that is most suitable for it to work out. Whether the environment is pleasant or unpleasant is determined by the type of Karmas working out. Also your births and environments are determined according to the nature of your desires. Prarabdh places you in such suitable environments as are favourable for the gratification of your desires.
So it is one's Karma that will determine what a person receives by birth, that is, high, low or average intelligence, skin tone, voice, physique, health, worldly pleasures etc. Whatever, he/she has done in the past was his/her free-will (Purushaarth) and yesterday’s free-will is today’s destiny (Prarabdh). And what we are doing today, with proportionate to the karma performed in conscious state turns into best, medium or the lower category free-will. Thus, the destiny is not delinked to the free-will and the present destiny of the human being moves ahead with the free-will. Now the question arises that when a person understands that his destiny is not good, can he amend it or would have to continue moving in the same direction? The answer is simple, though the support of free-will always exists with the human being but mostly he/she does not do any work suddenly but move slowly with the momentum. Yes, if a person is not making any effort to change the destiny or there is no use of external force (Bahya Shakti) on the destiny, then whatever Prarabdh is with the individual, he/she continues with it. On principles, the change in destiny is not impossible. It could change but with the help of Gurupdesh (instruction from a renowned Guru), through Shaastra-shravan (acquiring Vedic wisdom & knowledge) or use of ones thought power but first, with the trouble in the life, downfall, one should understand that their destiny is not good for them or for others as well. When this message is clear, the human nature, sooner or later, is bound to change.
Contrary thinking or contrary action is necessary for the point that an individual wants to change. Remember, since destiny (Prarabdh) has been created due to freewill (Purushaarth), it is bound to change with the use of free-will itself. Like, for a person who wants to change the fate of greediness, he/she should have strong bout of generousness. So now the question arises what is more influential, destiny or the free-will? and the answer is conceptually neither destiny nor the free-will. Whichever is more operative at that moment has a greater impact than the other at that time. Some people believe that no one could turn the fate except God/Allah and consider the destiny and God's will and grace as the super authoritative and infallible and free-will as insignificant. But the Self-enlightened and brave speak contrary to it.
In Ramayan after Lord Ram defeated Ravana, He said to his wife Sita "Devena tu yata sampraptam paurushena tyapakritam", meaning: “Oh Sita, whatever troubles, and inauspiciousness I got in the life due to the destiny, I have fought it with the free-will”
Even in Bhagavad Gita (chapter 18, verse 63), Shri Krishna says: "Thus, I have explained to you this knowledge that is more secret than all secrets. Ponder over it deeply; accordingly act as you wish". Notice how Shri Krishna is not forcing his views down Arjun's throat, but instead, asks him to do as he pleases.
In Hindi movies we keep hearing that how someone died or how an unfavourable outcome was the result of "Bhagwan/Khudah ki marzee" (God's wish) or how even a leaf cannot move without God’s will. Such nonsense was never entertained in the earlier Vedic era & was never a part of Vedic teachings. I've seen a renowned muslim actor who while playing a Hindu character is often seen in the movie doing "Salaam" & "Adab" an Arabic greeting gesture instead of Namaste, Namaskara or Pranaam.
Muslims do not consider themselves responsible for what happens to them but rather ascribe everything to the will of Allah. They believe that human actions are being watched and recorded for final judgment on the "Day of Judgment (yome-ud-din)". As a result muslims do not endeavour to change anything & facts speak for themselves. Islamic countries are poor (unless they have found oil, a natural resource formed during the Carboniferous period under the ground) & lag behind while all other nations are advancing in Science and technology. It is up to us to create wealth. When faced with calamities and natural disasters, we do not hide our heads under the sand saying it was the will of God/Allah. Rather we try to find ways to beat those calamities through science and technology, for eg. through remote sensing and Earth observation satellite programs (IRS, INSAT, IRNSS, RISAT, Cartosat etc.), we were able to save lakhs of lives by being well prepared for the 2nd strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall in India “Phailin” that hit east coast of India on October 12, 2013. Death toll during cyclone "Phailin" was a mere 44 as compared to 200000 people (yup two lakh people) lost their lives when cyclone “Bhola” struck the same region on November 12,1970. Science & technology can advance only through Purushaarth (free-will).
Today we may call the outcome of our activities & events in our lives as fate, destiny, or use Urdu/Arabic terms like kismath, taqdeer, naseeb, muqaddar and other such nomenclatures, but what we should understand here is that the outcome is the result of Karma & NOT God's wish/will/intervention. WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERYTHING WE DO. In his book "The Jain Doctrine of Karma and the Science of the Genetics" the author Dr Sohan Raj Tater states there are two kinds of determinants of body processes and behaviour of organisms, one is Karma and the other is genes. Karma directs, instructs, motivate genetic codes and genes to function and mutate accordingly. Karma is the cause and genes is the effect. Prarabdh determines the form of body one takes in this life and the type of environment that is most suitable for it to work out. Whether the environment is pleasant or unpleasant is determined by the type of Karmas working out. Also your births and environments are determined according to the nature of your desires. Prarabdh places you in such suitable environments as are favourable for the gratification of your desires.
So it is one's Karma that will determine what a person receives by birth, that is, high, low or average intelligence, skin tone, voice, physique, health, worldly pleasures etc. Whatever, he/she has done in the past was his/her free-will (Purushaarth) and yesterday’s free-will is today’s destiny (Prarabdh). And what we are doing today, with proportionate to the karma performed in conscious state turns into best, medium or the lower category free-will. Thus, the destiny is not delinked to the free-will and the present destiny of the human being moves ahead with the free-will. Now the question arises that when a person understands that his destiny is not good, can he amend it or would have to continue moving in the same direction? The answer is simple, though the support of free-will always exists with the human being but mostly he/she does not do any work suddenly but move slowly with the momentum. Yes, if a person is not making any effort to change the destiny or there is no use of external force (Bahya Shakti) on the destiny, then whatever Prarabdh is with the individual, he/she continues with it. On principles, the change in destiny is not impossible. It could change but with the help of Gurupdesh (instruction from a renowned Guru), through Shaastra-shravan (acquiring Vedic wisdom & knowledge) or use of ones thought power but first, with the trouble in the life, downfall, one should understand that their destiny is not good for them or for others as well. When this message is clear, the human nature, sooner or later, is bound to change.
Contrary thinking or contrary action is necessary for the point that an individual wants to change. Remember, since destiny (Prarabdh) has been created due to freewill (Purushaarth), it is bound to change with the use of free-will itself. Like, for a person who wants to change the fate of greediness, he/she should have strong bout of generousness. So now the question arises what is more influential, destiny or the free-will? and the answer is conceptually neither destiny nor the free-will. Whichever is more operative at that moment has a greater impact than the other at that time. Some people believe that no one could turn the fate except God/Allah and consider the destiny and God's will and grace as the super authoritative and infallible and free-will as insignificant. But the Self-enlightened and brave speak contrary to it.
In Ramayan after Lord Ram defeated Ravana, He said to his wife Sita "Devena tu yata sampraptam paurushena tyapakritam", meaning: “Oh Sita, whatever troubles, and inauspiciousness I got in the life due to the destiny, I have fought it with the free-will”
Even in Bhagavad Gita (chapter 18, verse 63), Shri Krishna says: "Thus, I have explained to you this knowledge that is more secret than all secrets. Ponder over it deeply; accordingly act as you wish". Notice how Shri Krishna is not forcing his views down Arjun's throat, but instead, asks him to do as he pleases.
Vin, need help.
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