Karma, Luck and Destiny - Part-3

We have already discussed Karma and Luck in the first two parts of this three part series of articles. Now is the turn of Destiny - 

As per Free dictionary, Destiny is a predetermined course of events that are considered to be beyond the control of human beings. 

It is this predetermined course of events that we have to understand in order to understand our destiny. A lot of people understand destiny as fate; however, it is not an appropriate and sufficient condition. Because, people confuse or substitute destiny as fate which is not true. To be more precise, let me elaborate on the following:

"Our fate decides our destiny but our destiny does not decide our fate." 

Clearly, our fate is something which will take us closer to our destiny but fate is not the same as destiny. Then, the more important question that comes to everyone's mind is - 

"If fate is different than destiny, then what is destiny."

I will not hesitate to say that Destiny is our destination - it is our target for this life. For example, if a person feels that Software development is his destination, then so be it. Software development, indeed is that person's destiny. 

Human beings have been assigned different targets for their lives. Therefore, everyone of us work in different roles to achieve their respective targets. The entire population of earth doesn't work in software development or the entire population of earth does not produce goods. These targets or goals are based on the past karmas (hard work), luck, aptitude and evolution of the soul of the person. 

Based on these factors, a human being is assigned a role for his present life. However, if this is destiny, then why do people keep changing their targets. That is because, once a person has realized his destiny, then he needs to re-visit his targets just to ensure that he continues on the path of progression or evolution. In case the person doesn't do that, then he is bound to stagnate after realizing his destiny.

However, another potent question comes that if a person keeps on moving from one target to another, then is life really a never ending chain? Well, the answer to this is Life is never ending as well as ending. 

It is pertinent to note that any human being in his quest for greater satisfaction is eventually reaching close to a point from where he will set GOD realization as his ultimate destiny or final destiny or final station. It is this destination that every human being is bound to reach sooner or later. Some may reach here early because of their faster evolution while others may take time as they are focused on other targets of their lives.

Also, it is not important for a person to be super-rich or super-powerful to identify his ultimate destination. It is just a matter of evolution of a person's mind. If your mind has evolved, then obviously you can strive for the final destination. 

But is God realization really our final destination? If yes, then why and If not, then why not? I will touch this topic in my next post and try to throw some light on it.

Krishna is the ultimate GOD

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Krishna took birth in Dwapar Yuga to destroy the evil forces and to start a new chapter in Hinduism's history. Krishna had a dark complexion which later changed to sky blue. This happened when Krishna dived into the Yamuna river to teach Kalia (Kaliya) naag a lesson. The naag was poisoning the entire river due to which many innocents were getting killed. Initially, the naag threw venom on Krishna in order to kill him; however, it didn't impact Krishna (just changed his complexion). Not just Kaliya Naag, Krishna also killed many other powerful demons, such as Trunavarta, Keshi, Aristhasur, Bakasur, Pralambasur and others. While eliminating such negative personalities, Krishna was eventually preparing to dethrone Kansa (the evil king); however, this was not the main objective of his birth.

Kaaliya finally accepted defeat and left Yamuna so that people of Gokul and others who were using Yamuna's water could live without any issues. However, the Lord looked even more beautiful and stunning due to his 'Sky Blue Complexion'. The Gopis fell for Krishna's complexion, glow, flute playing capabilities and above all, his ability to attract cows. Krishna's flute had the magic to attract all his Bhakts towards him. Whenever Krishna played flute, blissful vibrations were created in the mind and the body of his Bhakts. The impact of his flute was mesmerizing as the cows would forget to eat grass, the Gopis would leave their household chores to listen to the flute and other Bhakts would forget their worldly duties and would lay still while Krishna would play his music. 

During his childhood, Krishna was also very naughty as he would steal white butter from the pots of various households and distribute it amongst his friends. He was also very fond of breaking the matkis of Gopis. Yashoda often heard many complaints against Krishna's mischievous behavior; however, she was unable to control Krishna. One day, Yashoda got really angry and she tied Krishna's hands and body along with a column so that he could not go out of the house to play any further mischiefs.

Soon a neighbor entered Yashoda's house complaining about Krishna. She claimed that Krishna stole the white butter from her house today; however, Yashoda didn't believe her neighbor as Krishna was not allowed to go out of the house. But the neighbor was inconsolable as she was also very sure of Krishna's mischief. At this point, Yashoda took her neighbor to the place where Krishna was tied and indicated that Krishna didn't go out at all. When Yashoda's neighbor saw Krishna tied with a rope, she fainted as she had also seen Krishna in her house. This is how Krishna used to play around with his bhakts while his bhakts were completely oblivious with his reality.

Haathi Ghode Palki, Jai Kanhaiya Lal ki. Bolo Maakhan Chor Krishna Murari ki Jai.

Lord Ganesh -- The God of New Beginnings

Lord Ganesh, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, is one of the most popular Gods in Hinduism. He holds a prominent place amongst all Hindu Gods as he is one of the five main Hindu deities (other than Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga) who are worshipped in the panchayatana puja.

Worshipping Ganesh is considered essential for new beginnings, removing obstacles, attaining education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. Many Hindus seek blessings of Ganesh before starting any ceremonies & rituals or before venturing into a new business. Also, Ganesh is very popular among students and kids because he helps them to attain knowledge and education.

Ganesh is easily recognized because of his distinct physical features such as elephant face, big belly and broken tusk. The physical attributes are indicative of Ganesh’s various qualities because of which he is worshipped among Hindus. The elephant face signifies wisdom, understanding and a sharp intellect whereas; the big belly signifies generosity and ability to accept negative and positive experiences in life. The broken tusk indicates sacrifice as Ganesh broke his tusk to use it as pen for writing Mahabharata.

Lord Ganesh is also worshipped in different forms by many of his devotees. He has as many as 32 different forms. For example, devotees worship him in the form of Pancha Muga (five faced), Ten-armed Ganesh (seated on a lion) or Balganesh (child Ganesh).

Ganesh’s birth and entry into the Shiva Parvati family

Goddess Parvati wanted to have a son who is loyal to her. To achieve this objective, she used turmeric paste to create a boy-shaped figure and then brought the shape into life. Parvati then told Ganesh that he is her son and also instructed him to protect the entrance whenever she is taking bath.

Once, when Ganesh was protecting the entrance while Parvati was taking bath, Lord Shiva arrived. Shiva wanted to enter because he was thirsty but Ganesh didn’t allow Shiva to enter. Shiva got angry and used his Trident to behead Ganesh. Soon Parvati came out and when she saw the lifeless body of her child, she became angry and threatened to destroy the heavens and earth. Shiva then asked Nandi to get the head of any living being that is sleeping with his head facing north. Nandi went and found a baby elephant sleeping in such a position and hence brought the head of the baby elephant. As a result, Ganesh was given a new life with an Elephant’s head.

As Ganesh sprang back to life, Parvati felt elated and quickly went towards her son to embrace him. By now, Shiva too had cooled and accepted Ganesh as his son. Then Shiva announced that worshipping Ganesh before performing any rituals or religious activity is mandatory.

Ganesh and wisdom

Once, Narada gifted a mango to Shiva but told him that only one person can eat the whole fruit. Since Shiva and Parvati wanted to share the mango, they refused to eat the mango. Shiva thought of giving the mango to either Ganesh or Kartikeya however, he was unable to make a decision. Consequently, Shiva asked them to make three rounds of the world and whoever will come first will get the mango. While Kartikeya rode his peacock to make three rounds, Ganesh simply took three rounds of Shiva and Parvati (stating that the entire world is within Shiva and Parvati).

Ganesh came first and hence, was declared the winner. However, he achieved this objective because of his wisdom.

Broken Tusk

Rishi Vyas needed someone to write Mahabharat while he dictates the verses. Lord Brahma recommended Lord Ganesh for the completion of this job. Ganesh was the only one who had the ability to write as per the speed of thoughts arising from Rishi Vyas. Consequently, Rishi Vyas requested Ganesh to help him in writing the Mahabharat. Ganesh agreed to write Mahabharat however, he realized that writing such a long poem continuously will require the use of strong pen. Therefore, he broke his left tusk to write Mahabharat. 

Karma OR Luck - Which has a greater impact on the destiny of Human Beings? (Part-2)

In the Part-2 of this article, we will focus on Luck which is a highly overused word. A lot of times, people blame the results of their karmas on luck; however, such a blame is not justified because everything is a result of your Karamas. Even your Luck is an outcome of your Karmas.  

Now, the main point of contention is if LUCK is more significant than KARMA. In this post, I will actually prove that Luck is nothing but a result of your good Karmas. Consequently, we can safely say that a person who works hard eventually gets luckier.

Given the above points, a more potent question is How Luck is an outcome of Karmas? I am sure most of you guys have heard or read the following sayings somewhere:

"The harder you work, the Luckier you get".

OR

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".

Most of us love these statements; however, we don't study our own culture, identity and its roots to understand how Luck was viewed in the Hindu culture. I think the most obvious example will be "Bhagwat Gita" as per which Krishna said that Karma is our duty and Karma is our fruit.

If we carefully observe, then we can say that Luck focuses on the final result whereas, Karma is focused on Karma (action). 

So, it is evident that when someone enjoys the luxuries of life and he has gained such luxuries through inheritance, then we are unable to fathom the reason behind his lifestyle. We tend to think that this person has been very LUCKY to lead such a luxurious life; however, our thought process is flawed. In reality, such a person has worked really hard to lead such a luxurious life. He had worked hard in his previous lives and the current situation is an outcome of his previous births. 

How is luck a result of several years of Hard Work?

When a person tries something new in life which may bring changes to his habits, behavior, character and overall lifestyle, then he may take some time to reach that level. I think everyone will agree that such a person will not be able to see the results from day one.

Scenario 1

An overweight guy (who weighs around 120 kgs want) wants to reduce his body weight; however, he cannot reduce it from day one. He will have to inculcate good habits and a winning attitude in order to reduce his weight from 120 kgs to 85 kgs. So, the time he will take to reduce his weight (may be 6 months or 12 months or even 18 months) is the time of Karma or hard work. The time when he is actually working very hard to reduce his weight.

But the day such a person reaches 85 kgs (let's say after 18 months of rigorous effort), he has achieved the fruits of his actions. This is a direct outcome.

Now, while reducing his weight, the fat guy (who is now a fit guy) was able to develop some really good habits/attitudes which he applied in his other life situations. As a result of this, he was able to embark on a completely new venture (of his own) which he never dreamt of. This is an indirect outcome.

And a lot of times, people tend to attribute the indirect outcome as luck; however, it is unfair to call it luck as the concerned person (fat guy turned fit guy) already had such a character. He only got more confident and was able to give shape to his latent potential through the help of his weight loss program.

Scenario 2

Suppose a person is trying really hard to achieve something, let's say, a person is trying hard to start his own business; however, he continues to witness failure or defeat. Although he does have adequate funds, manpower and other pertinent resources that are needed to succeed in business; he doesn't have a single client. So he tries really hard to develop his clients but he fails miserably. His family and near & dear ones support him emotionally and financially in his venture. We can safely say that this guy is in a comfort zone as far as business resources and family support is concerned.

Say after a year or so, the concerned person is still not able to tap a significant single client who can help his business to move northward. Now this guy, starts feeling a bit impatient as he is running out of available resources and family support. His real test starts now. 

Many clients hold discussions with this guy but do not offer him anything. Due to this experience over the last one year, the entrepreneur feels a bit down (he doesn't realize that he was actually coming closer to his goal by each passing day). His feeling continues and eventually takes him over. As a result, he gives up before he reaches the inflection point of his startup. However, 6 months later, some other person who was offering a similar type of service starts doing very well (but he waited for the full 2 years before his startup began to win clients). 

So the first guy starts blaming his luck for not able to succeed in his business when actually it was his lack of patience that led to the downfall of his enterprise. 

I can safely say that,

For the first guy -- 

"Luck is a scapegoat of a coward who doesn't have the patience to stick his neck out."

For the second guy -- 

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

This is how one should perceive LUCK. It definitely plays a role - No Doubt, but it is not GOD. Each one of us has the right to trust our instinct, effort and capability and persist in our goals.

In Hinduism, the role of Luck is definitely important but it is not indispensable. The planets at the time of birth do have a lasting impact on the personality of a person, but at the same time a human being has the capability to change his path on the basis of his hard work OR Karma. 

GOD gives us opportunities and he will continue to do so. We only need to understand his signals in an optimistic manner. 

Pray to Lord Ganesh to rid all Obstacles

Lord Ganesh is the God of new beginnings, education, knowledge, wisdom, wealth and advancement. In Hinduism, Ganesh holds a significant place because Ganesh puja is mandatory before any religious function, ritual or activity. Students and businessmen worship Ganesh for education and wealth respectively.

Ganesh's Family and some interesting stories

Lord Ganesh is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Kartikeya (God of War) is Ganesh’s younger brother. Ganesh loves to eat Modak and Ladoo. When Ganesh grew up, he married Prajapati’s two daughters namely Siddhi and Riddhi. Anyone, who worships Ganesh gets the blessing of his wives. Ganesh is well known for his wisdom, knowledge and sacrifice.

The wise one

Once, Shiva asked his sons to make three rounds of universe to assess their wisdom. While Kartikeya rode his peacock around the universe, Ganesh simply took three rounds of Shiva and Parvati (and stated that Shiva and Parvati are his universe). Ganesh won the race due to his wisdom.

The destroyer of ego

Ganesh destroyed the ego of many earthly and celestial beings. For example, Ganesh fought and defeated Gajamugasuran because the asur was torturing many good human beings and rishis. Ganesh subdued the ego of Gajamugasuran by turning him into a mouse.

Ganesh cursed the moon to lose his brightness because the Moon made fun of Ganesh’s large trunk. As moon lost his glow, he realized his mistake and apologised to Ganesh. As a result, Ganesh reduced Moon’s punishment by allowing him to increase for first 15 days and then decrease for the next 15 days.

Knowledge and Sacrifice

Lord Brahma instructed Rishi Vyas to write Mahabharat which was a gigantic task, however,  Vyas requested for help in writing. Brahma recommended Ganesh for this job as he could only write as per the speed of thoughts arising from Vyas. Ganesh felt that continuous writing of such a long poem will need a strong pen. Consequently, Ganesh sacrificed his tusk to ensure that writing of Mahabharat doesn’t stop even for a moment.

Karma OR Luck - Which has a greater impact on the destiny of Human Beings? (Part-1)

Karma, Luck and Destiny 

These three words have shaped the past, present and future of the mankind. And will continue to do so. However, it is important to understand each of these words distinctly and their inherent correlation. As, each word is quite vast in its nature, we will discuss each of these words in different posts and then conclude in the last post.

Karma

Simply put, Karma is action. As Lord Krishna says that each human being is bound to perform some action whether he/she likes it or not OR whether the Karma is under his control or not. For example, your senses, that is, eyes, nose, skin, tongue and ears will perform their duties. If a person walks in a park, he will naturally smell the fragrance of the flowers and he cannot stop his nose from smelling. Similarly, each human being is bound to do Karmas and his senses are his horses which need to be regulated according to the wishes of his Soul. 

Considering the practicality of the matter as on today, it is indeed quite difficult to regulate our senses and we often overdo certain things to have pleasure over a long period of time. Anyhow, this is a completely different subject and I would not like to delve deeper into it in this post. 

So coming back to the topic, our senses are the base which define each and every action of our lives. As, we have to bear fruits of our past actions, similarly our present actions will give us the fruits in the future. So, we can say that our present actions define our future path. Also, human beings perform a lot of Karmas whose fruits are not received in the same lifetime, which are then carried to the next life and then the next and then the .... (till infinity unless you continuously evolve and eventually achieve Moksha).

Therefore in every sense, our present Karmas are the building blocks of our lives and our senses are the roots of our Karmas. If we use our senses in a regulated manner to perform good karmas with pure intention, then we are bound to bear its positive fruits (irrespective of the lifetime). As Lord Krishna said that

we shouldn't worry too much about the results; just focusing on our senses and using them positively will take us to the right direction.