Destiny, Luck, Hard Work or Divine Grace?

   Life is an enigma. Little do we know when we take birth 'Where', 'Why' and 'How'.  Certainly it is not just a chance but a well designed way with a purpose that one is born! The fundamental principle is that "Atman knows all. Atmavaivedgm sarvam | There are many advocates of 'karma theory' who firmly believe that it is prarabhda karma that dictates life. as far as one can think it is the cause and effect, besides the 'Will' of the Lord work in designing life. It is the desire, will, resolve that takes shape in action that promote a life. Many a lives are stunted in growth, twisted and turned of, or even cut off! What governs life is thus left to an unknown factor- 'destiny'. However it is also true that the jiva takes a journey on this planet by sheer divine will since every minute detail of the jiva's sojourn is encrypted, well written in the horoscope! So there is nothing to be left to chance here?

   Now, may be, the life and work of a jiva is of no consequence? It is just a biological entity. Yes. it is true true that a jiva is a skeletal body and a mass of flesh and blood. The growth and development of the body may be attributed to food, environment and genes. The subtler aspects of mind and moods, intelligence, ego, desires and dreams, the thoughts, ideas and actions cannot be attributed to the physical body, not even to the brain. It is a complex system governed by divine will. In the Vedic sense, it may be said that the supreme Lord only takes a journey through different forms as per His will and desire and runs through without leaving us any clue as to the questions raised above.The Lord only knows why He creates and enters it as prana, prajnye, manas, buddhi, ahankara and presents a picture of the world we witness. There is no plausible explanation to whatever happens here since the Lord has all the prerogatives. Time is the healer of joints whether he gives us joy or happiness, success or failure, or whatever is His will. kaalaya tasmai namah | This is not in any way an escapist view.

Realization of the Self

   The Lord says, “Arjuna, I shall reveal the utmost secrets to you”. If this knowledge revealed by the Lord is the most secret of the ‘vidyas’ how can the mortals understand it? Moreover, what is that most ‘secret vidya’? He, the Lord, reveals that this knowledge is the supreme, ‘brahma vidya’, and a ‘yoga shastra that redeems the embedded jiva’! Hence, here are the secrets of creation, sustenance, and dissolution revealed to vivasvan, the Sun God, 4.56 billion years ago, even before the earth and all its living beings appeared! Hence it must be construed that the supreme Lord, Parabrahmn was contemplating upon creation in his meditative trance, yoganidra, about creation. Since Lord Krishna transcends time, rather, He being omnipotent and ‘kaal’ (Time) by Himself, nothing prevents Him from this. The secrets are known to Him only, He is imparting this to Vivasvan, who in turn imparted it to the first manu and then it came to King Ikshvaku a descendant of Vivasvan (suryavamshi). This has been repeated time and again as and when it was lost due to dissolution, adharma, floods and devastation, and other reasons. This is the secret yoga of creation; it is the lila; srushti, sthiti, laya, vilaya, anugraha, and mukti patha, the path of renunciation and emancipation of the embedded souls.

  The fundamental principle (mahat tattva) is “‘I am”’ (so’ ham); the term I refers to the Lord. The term ‘am’ is His manifest forms, the principle of ‘sat’, existence. The one Supreme Soul paramatman is reflected in the myriads of individual souls as the one sun or moon is reflected in myriads of glass pieces!

 The Soul Atman is ‘cit-shakti’. It is ‘Energy’ particle, a photon- the eternal, unborn, immutable brahmn. As it is Energy, it goes without saying that it is the support of all that exists, as paramatman. Paramatman is “the Supreme Soul, supreme energy”. The soul is thus a charged particle of an ‘ion’ of this ocean of consciousness, ‘chit-shakti; it is a particle of radiant energy, a particle of star dust; stellar dust, full of knowledge, intellect, creative power. This ‘Consciousness’- an individualised unit as ‘Jivatman’, has come within the limitations, ‘niyati’, of time, space, and causality, as in contrast to the ‘supreme soul’ – the unlimited, vast, immutable, unchanging, and eternal ‘paramatman’. Shiva, the unlimited, is thus reducing Himself to jiva, a limited entity. This is ‘kanchuki’, limitation.