Choice of Destiny 005

Duty And Destiny

G: The law of destiny seems to be complicated because of the interwoven duties of an individual. Where our actions and those related to us are valued against our previous karma and the derived factor is achieved which is our future karma. Therefore, I see this life as a duty
S: When we cannot but follow destiny that becomes our only and unavoidable duty. We are all doing that duty: no one is capable of not following the path of destiny.
G: I still would argue that we have to prioritize our duties: first, the duties as children of our parents, then as a student, then as spouse, parent, friend, relative, colleague, then as citizens of our country and the world. Finally, comes the duty of self-realization and to attain Bliss. I feel that the stages of life prescribed by the (Hindu!) scriptures of ancient Bharat or India, namely, the stages of Brahmachariam, Grahastham, Vanaprastham and Sanyasam are nothing but the stages of realization of duty. In the Vanaprashtam, we do the duty towards humanity after settling our family and children. The Sanyasam is the stage of duty towards self-realization.
S: Well said. All these stages are part of the general formulation of destiny... the actual stages through which one goes is as part of individual destiny.
G: Therefore, is the dereliction of duty like being a bad son, bad parent, and bad citizen also part of our destiny?
S: Dereliction of duty to parents, wife, children, and society is also part of destiny or destined duty (lack of duty or negative duty or zero duty)
G: Here I feel that the astral science helps to understand the karma factor better. According to palmistry, for men they say the left hand is the fate and the right hand is what we achieve. If we see both our palms we would find there is a slight difference in the lines. It is said every 7 years the line changes. According to science, clasping of our hands in the womb forms the lines on the palms. Then, why do the lines vary from hand to hand across billions of people? Since every being in the world should be duty bound, any deviation / aberration affects the linear equation of karma where a certain percentage of the other variables and constants are also added.
S: I have no idea of linear equations of Karma or duty. When we come to know irrespective of whether we are able to accept or digest this knowledge) that we are only the dolls of destiny, we learn to live comfortably with our destiny, discharging our duties on the destined path ahead.
G: This is what Krishna says in Bhagawad Gita,” Do your duty, don’t expect any fruits of duty, and leave the results to it to God. So what we have to do is only to discharge our duties.
S: Yes, you are right. We have no choice but to do our duty or lack of duty as ordained by destiny. Better to do cheerfully what you are bound by destiny to do. If we destined we will be cheerful.
G: Having acquired skills and not utilizing it, is a dereliction of duty.
S: But both acquisition of skills and the extent of their usage are fully conditioned by destiny. You cannot have any choice really. Man took so many years to discover and use fire and another so many years to know that earth moves around the Sun and so on. Why did it take such a long time to discover all these simple things? It is destiny. Nothing can happen before destined time and everything happens as per destined time path.
G: The best epic to explain the clutches of destiny is Silapathikaram, written by Elango Adigal in Tamil. A Prince who became a Buddhist monk and wrote this epic that tells the story of Kovalan, Kannagi and Madhavi. The timid housewife Kannagi destroyed Madurai, the capital city when the Pandian king delivered an injustice and beheaded her husband Kovalan thinking that he has stolen the queen’s Anklet. The interesting fact about Elango Adigal (saint) is that he was the second prince. An astrologer who visited the palace had told that the second prince only would rule the world. On hearing this, the first prince was disturbed. To prove the astrologer that the predictions were wrong, he became a Buddhist monk. However, he was more popular than the king because of his nature and literary contributions.
S: Your interpretation seems correct because a popular person with literary contributions rules the hearts of people if that is his destiny, while a king may be the ruler of the land if that is the destiny.
G: As I understand, poor does not necessarily mean economically poor, but also people who are short of love, affection, appreciation, acknowledgement and recognition.
S: You are right. Poor does not mean merely poor in terms of income or wealth. Those who are short of love, affection, health, appreciation, and acknowledgement are also poor. If people require empowerment and opportunities to earn more income to come out of poverty, some other people need similar support to come out of bondage and enjoy liberty. Still some others need assistance to get and give love, affection, and recognition. The definition of “poor” is human creation. Inadequacy of something in relation to desired level/ amount/ measure is the criterion to judge whether one is poor or not. However if the principle of destiny is to be believed, then there may always be some people who are poor in terms of something or the other. So, this definition of poor is not very helpful although Man is destined to use this definition of poor.
If we examine the destiny path of different individuals each has a basket of what people call good and bad luck. As in economics, these need to be aggregated and over time. But we do not have market prices and interest (discount) factor to aggregate the different elements on the destiny path. Moreover, even if one had some prices to value them, the problem of interpersonal comparison would remain. For we see many poor people apparently more happy than many rich people irrespective of how you measure poor or rich (income, wealth, love affection, worries, etc.). Was Ramkrishna Paramhansa rich or poor? If he had submitted all his actions and time path of life to God, he did not own any poverty or lack of any thing. If he did not ask for or require anything beyond what his destined life thrust on him, and lived happily, then he must have been a rich person. Were Vivekananda rich because he was recognized by the World or he set up Ramkrishna Mission? I think that was part of his destiny and destiny of the World. He was rich because he submitted his thoughts and deeds to God. He owned nothing and yet did as he was destined.
G: In one of the religious discourse, the speaker was saying the urge for each individual in the world to excel and to attain goals, originate from the moment of our conception in mother’s womb. In the sperm even though over 6 million living organisms are present, only one is able to swim and fertilize the egg in the uterus. In a few cases, two are able. It is this race right from time of our conception that makes us crave for recognition and acknowledgement.
S: Whatever you have said now, all the more clearly points out how, what will happen when and what one will do at any moment is determined by a logic/ principle/ law over which none has any control. That is the principle of destiny. Its operation starts much before a human child is conceived and continues after death. If such a powerful principle determines the logic of conception, it must be more intelligent than human beings. That principle is destiny and that is nothing but God, the indestructible and infinite. Since that principle applies throughout all conceivable universes, man is too small to decide what he will do. Whatever we do individually and collectively get determined by that principle and that is why I term this as the Principle of Destiny. Individually and collectively we do what we are destined to do, we have no choice. And, the laws of destiny determine whatever we do. So far we have come to know only a few of the laws that are part of the Law of Destiny. For example, you have the law of gravitation. Why is this Law there? It is destined to be there. No one can change it but one can use it as per destiny.