“Is our destiny sealed?” This question may trouble us when, despite our best efforts, things go wrong. No, answers Gita wisdom unambiguously.
Philosophical technicalities apart, the Gita’s setting itself demonstrates an implicit acceptance of the power of human choice to shape destiny. In the Gita (18.63), Krishna urges Arjuna to choose wisely after contemplating the preceding outline of the consequences of different courses of action. This call implies that Arjuna does indeed have the power to choose and that this choice will shape his future.
In determining our life’s trajectory, destiny’s role is substantial but not final. Due to our past karma, certain things that happen to us from the moment of our birth are determined – the occurrence of those events is our destiny playing out. But destiny doesn’t take away our power to choose how we respond to what happens.
However, if we let our mind get fixated on the idea of a sealed destiny, that pessimistic fixation can seal our destiny – it can dishearten and disempower us from using our free will to make proactive choices.
Does destiny affect our power to choose? Partially – it may predispose us towards certain behavior. Thankfully though, this predisposition is changeable. And the Gita maximizes our power to change by providing us the means to shift our focus beyond destiny to the Lord of destiny, Krishna.
When we train ourselves to fix the mind on Krishna, he grants us inner satisfaction and illumination. This experience of higher spiritual reality empowers us to choose healthy patterns of behavior, different from those we may have been previously habituated to. These better choices help us improve our situations even in this life. And ultimately, they enable us to attain eternal life with Krishna, which is the best destiny
Explanation of article:
Hare krishna Prabhuji,
This explanation has cleared my doubt- I always used to think that our every action is destined but always had doubt.
I have one question that – when something bad happens to us we say it was destined or because of past karma and similarly if opposite is the case. Human beings can still think that good fortune is also because of karma and give very little credit to the actions which brings this good results.
So i think there is a very thin difference. I request you to please elaborate more on this.
Thank you.
Answered here:
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2013/12/when-something-happens-how-do-we-decide-whether-it-was-due-to-past-karma-or-present-actions/
ys
ccdas
Very nice article!
With the help of Gita wisdom we must shift our
focus from destiny to the Lord of destiny.
Thank you Prabhuji for sharing.
VEry good article! Thanks.
I am really fascinated by reading these all articles. Simply suerb explanation just to people of kali, with so much logic , beautiful explanations. This book must be widely distributed in intellctual community
Hare Krishna,
The wisdom nuggets are really really getting better and better.
Now its having pictorial depiction of the essence of the title, actual shloka explained and a video too by Chaitanya Charan Das Prabhuji.
The first thing i do everyday before i start my work is to read wisdom nuggets daily on ‘gitadaily’. Thank you for giving this eternal knowledge in such simplistic form.
Hari Bol!
Hare Krishna prabhuji.
Very beautiful article. It explains that we should focus on Lord of destiny Krishna for higher intelligence, and make better choices and that will illuminate us to better destiny.
Thank you very much.
Lord krishna is the destiny maker and destiny-controller. We must act wise using the freedom given to us by lord krishna to go on right path and the path which leads to the lord of lords shri krishna
Good article.I am fully agree with the views expressed by author herein.It is more important for us to fix our mind on Lord Krishna.Whoever we may be,whatever we may be doing we should follow the advice given in Bhagvad Gita which will ultimately fulfill goal of human form of life.