Satsang Destiny and Free Will

Destiny and Free Will
By Dr. H. Janardana Acharya
'There' is nothing greater than 'Vishnu Sahasra Namam'. Nothing else can give you in destroyable peace. Nothing can give you freedom from pain and agony except recitation of Vishnu Sahasra Namam at least once a day.
- Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji

Destiny and free will are synonymous. If the life phenomenon is a coin, the destiny is its obverse and the free-will its reverse. The relationship between them is as old and good as the relationship between the plant and the seed. Whether the destiny is the follower of free-will or otherwise is a never answerable question.

What is one today is due to the culmination of the play of one's freewill enacted yesterday, an yesterday that can be carried to an action. The product of the free will is called destiny or fate ('Adrishta'). Destiny is invisible but it is the product of one's own making and therefore one has the capacity to unmake it. The spool of destiny is wound by him and he himself would be able to unwind it.

The Sahasra Nama admits that the problem of fate and freewill is ponderous and formidable ('Gahano Guhaha'). However it clarifies the problem in ten words. The words 'Karanam Kaaranam Kartha Vikartha' say that He is the instrument and implement, He is the cause, He is the doer and He is the non-doer or undoer. In conclusion these words combine to say that it is the destiny's hand that is at work and that this phase of destiny in the phenomenon of life is un-understandable and unknowable.

But the seeker should not be discouraged. The reverse of the coin stamped ('Vyavasayah Vyavasthanah' etc,). It goads him to strive (Vyavasayah). His efforts will not go unobserved Nothing goes amiss in orderly dispensation and one's efforts will be rewarded (Sthanadah). The Dhruva is the final firm reassurance to the seeker that the destiny will run according to one's industry. It also illustrates the attainment of puranic Dharma whose persistent endeavor and final reach of Shimshumara Chakra, the pave of the universe are classically proverbial.

This son of mutual relationship between free will and destiny and the identity of them is the dispensation of His supreme wisdom which is clear to the saints of the caliber of His Holiness Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji.

What is this supreme wisdom?
We shall bury our past. Let us build our future not allowing the present (to slip away but making the best of the present. Now is our time, not tomorrow. [Keeping the classical Dhruva as our ideal, we shall hitch our wagon to the plot star and not minding the earth to which we are temporarily bound and pulled] shall try to reach the vault striving, striving and striving.

Permanent feature
The Lord Knows!
Keep on doing the good you can, though others receive the credit for it. What you do is your offering to the Lord. And none can deceive Him.

The Triple Secret
Do Tings go hard with you?
Persevere in doing your duty and also, pray to God: but in doing your duly be humble.
[If you have these three — Perseverance, prayer and humility. — It will, at last, be well with you!

Real Birthday
REAL BIRTHDAY is the day when the spiritual self emerges from beyond and overpowers the entire being from every side.
REAL BIRTHDAY is the day when divine virtues take birth with ourselves, and make us happy and peaceful
REAL BIRTHDAY is the day when old 'Samskaras' have died, giving birth to the religious zeal.

(Source Shri Sai Padananda April 1992)
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