Fate and Luck

(‘വിധിയും ഭാഗ്യവും‘ എന്ന ലേഖനത്തിന്റെ പരിഭാഷ)

In this material world, whenever people find difficulty in explaining some questions which nobody can answer, they rely on two magical words – Fate and Luck. Nowadays, these two words are so common that I wonder whether there will be anyone who didn’t use it at least once in his life time! In every part of this world, in every different community, in every different language, there are similar words having the same meaning. This is because; all human beings are made of same bones, marrows, flesh and blood, so that the union of these creates a body having similar basic thoughts. These thoughts will never be restricted by the boundaries of countries or beliefs. For every living being, the ‘Fate and Luck’ came as experiences and humans seems to be the only creature who are thinking about it. With their extra intelligence, humans always think of controlling the nature. But, even when they think that they are in command of the nature’s forces, they come across such situations which cannot be explained by their intelligence. Then they will use these two words; Fate and Luck; for explaining them. But what is the actual reason behind fate or luck? Different religions and different philosophers explained it in a number of different ways. Which is right and which is more right is difficult to know!

Lord Buddha thought deeply about the reasons behind the three sorrows- Aging, Illness and Death. He may have approached the wise people of his time and they may have given some answers. But he never got satisfied. He searched for his life time and concluded that those are inevitable stages of life. Different religions have different views about birth and death. Some are contradicting to some other and so the only thing we can do is to collect all viewpoints, observe it and reach a logical explanation.

Interestingly, not all religions are explaining the words ‘Fate and Luck’ the same. In some religions, they are considered as the wishes of Almighty which cannot be questioned at all and should be accepted without reasoning. They quote the words of Jesus as the proof : “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work”. This is a kind of psychological treatment and is also effective. Whenever somebody comes across a situation which cannot be comprehended with their logical reasoning, they need something to rely upon and consider these happenings as a wish of God which will immediately ease their mind.

But here, we are thinking about fate in a different angle. What is fate? Take an example of a hospital where twenty-five babies are born in a day. And let us assume that among the twenty-five two are handicapped. Here some questions will arise in our minds. Why those two babies are handicapped? Who is responsible for their miseries? What is the reason behind this? Medical science can definitely explain all these deformities. Most of the doctors will conclude it as genetic disorders or some unlikely events during the pregnancy period. This common explanation is to some extent acceptable. But the souls of the twenty five babies are similar, right? If these two souls are aware of the sufferings waiting for them, why they selected such deformed bodies? Why couldn’t they select a good body like the other babies? Also among those babies, some are born in rich families where some others in poor. Is there any difference between the souls of the babies who had born as rich to those who born as poor? All these souls came to this world for the first time. So, we cannot think that it is because of their sins they are suffering. In every religion and in every country, children are born as rich or poor or healthy or handicapped. That means our religious belief or the country of origin are not a criteria. Then why this is happening?

Why all the souls coming to this world are not selecting a healthy body and a rich family? It is sure that none of the souls likes to suffer sorrow or misfortune. Then why some are selecting a miserable situation? The only logical explanation to this is that the selection may not be done by the individual souls. If they are selecting, they will definitely opt for better living condition. Then, is the selection done by another source? If it is done by a source that is protecting and controlling the universe, then it is not at all justice. On what basis some souls are given good living conditions and some other bad? Discrimination is a flaw in a human’s thinking ability. Treating someone as inferior based on their race, religion, sex, national origin, age or other characteristics are purely human. This injustice cannot be expected from the creator of this universe. It is also foolish to think that the Almighty is doing injustice. So we can conclude that none of the souls are free to select a living condition which they like. They are coming from somewhere, where, they are not the one who is deciding their future.

“The word Impossible is not in my dictionary” is a famous quote by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. These words will definitely boost our confidence in ourselves. If anyone who tries hard with utmost dedication can achieve anything is a common belief. But actually the truth is little different. This world is full of impossibles. For example, can I born as the son of a scientist? Can I born as the son of a millionaire? Or, can I born as the son of a newly wedded couple? That is not possible, right? In short, the birth is not in our control. That is why, the great Indian philosophers often quoted that “Every souls helplessly take a suitable body and coming to this world”.

Let us think about it in another way. Our creator is giving us wisdom, beauty, strength, status and wealth or, deformities in the body, immature growth, diseases, financial problems and bad status just to test us. He is giving us different situations to check the way we respond. He is looking forward to know how we face each and every situation and analyzing it. He is checking whether we are forgetting him in our good or bad times. He is experimenting with us. This idea is actually good in the sense that those who follow it will never forget the creator in their miseries or fortunes. He will never be egoistic. Those who follow this path will always think that the God is watching him in his every step and so most probably he will always try to be good. He will consider all his misfortunes as given from his creator just to test him and that thought itself will console him. Actually, every religious doctrine mention about the tests of the creator and for winning these tests one should always try to embrace truth, morality and righteousness in all his deeds.

In fact, anyone who is considering the fate and luck as the desire or test of the God should always live peacefully in this materialistic world. Such people should not involve in any destructive activities and have to live peacefully. But that is not happening around us. When people suffer from diseases or misfortunes they blame their Gods.  Miseries will implant many doubts in anyone’s mind. Why God is giving sufferings for me alone? Why he is giving someone good situations and some other bad? If he is testing us, he should give same situations for all and should watch who is performing well. Then only he knows who is following the right path and who is not! There came the intervention of religions - You don’t have the right to question the desire of our creator! Then, why he desires like that? Why he want to establish injustice among his sons? Injustice, discrimination, predilection or sin is not suitable for the truthful and loving God whom we worship. Considering all the mishappenings as God’s desire is good for normal living. But in reality, we are imposing human nature in God. The creator neither has any desire, nor does he need any test to know about us.

What is actually the meaning of ‘test’? Evaluating something which we don’t know. A teacher who is giving same question to a group of students to know their knowledge and collecting their answers is called an examination. A scientist who doesn’t know the composition of water molecules conducted many researches and reached a conclusion. Like this, through tests and researches our knowledge is expanding and that is how mankind had reached at this level. Tests and examinations are required only when there is lack of knowledge about something. This unawareness and the tests for awareness are human characters which cannot be related to the Almighty. How can we continue thinking that the God is testing us, when we place our God as the source of all knowledge and the reason behind everything? The Almighty don’t need any experiment to know about us. He knows everything. In short, those who think something as God’s desire or God’s experiment are actually tarnishing their God.

From the above arguments, we can conclude that God’s desires or God’s experiments don’t have any abidance when we consider the ultimate truth. In Vedanta , God is considered as the reason of this universe and is described as Nirguna (distinction less), Nirvikāra (without transformation), Nirākāra (that which have no form), Nirupama (that which have no comparison) and Nirapeksha (that which is not depending on anything) and also Omniscience (with infinite knowledge), Omnipotent (with unlimited power), Omnipresent (present everywhere), Omni benevolent (perfect goodness) and Eternal. So, attributing any human qualities to this supreme soul is not at all suitable.

Ancient Indian Philosophers thought deeply about this material world and the causes of its miseries. Finally they come across an inference, that on which, the existence of the whole world relies. They named it as ‘Karma phala’ (the result of one’s action). According to them, life is an infinite chain of results of actions (Karma) of the past. “As you sow, so you reap”. There is nothing other than that. The desire of God or his tests have no significance at all. But, how can we explain everything with the ‘Law of Cause and Effect’? How come a newly born child suffers when he didn’t do any deeds so far? How something can happens without a reason? For explaining this we need another term – ‘Reincarnation’.

Not all religions accept the concept of reincarnation. In various religious doctrines this term was mentioned but the views are different. So, reaching an opinion based on different viewpoints of many prophets and philosophers is the right method.

 A common man can reach a level of higher knowledge, only if he agrees and understand three basic rules of learning. 

(1)One should not think that he knows everything and no one have anything more to teach.

(2) One should not think that what all he knows is true and it is the only truth.

(3) One should not think that no one knows anything more than what he knows.

Anyone who admit and understand that his knowledge is not complete and what he knows is not all true and many other whom he consider inferior, knows more than what he think will climb up the ladder of ultimate knowledge. Such person will never neglect any knowledge from anywhere. He will always remain greedy to know more and more. “Wisdom is the lost property of the Believer, let him claim it whenever he finds it” is a Hadith in Islam mentioning about the importance of knowledge. Whether it is said in Islam or in any other religion this is applicable to everyone in this world.

Why I described this much about the importance of knowledge is because of the complexity of the matter following.  One should plough the land before sowing. Likewise, our minds should be prepared for accepting the facts. That is why Jesus told his disciples, "He who has eyes to see, let him see, and he who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Those who want to know the truth should always keep their heart and ears open.

The truth about birth and death is explained so beautifully in the following verse of Bhagavad Gita.

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro 'parani |
tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi || (2.22)

 

---"As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies"---

In the absence of the ‘self’, the body which we have is inanimate. It is made of lifeless materials. Being small during birth, it takes food and water from the environment to grow. This will continue to an age from where growth is impossible. As time goes, the body will start dilapidating. The destruction will reach a point at which the soul owing the body cannot continue to remain within and finally it leaves. This is what we call death. The ‘self’, which leaves the body doesn’t have death or birth. It is eternal and immutable. As the wind takes with it the scents of flowers, the ‘self’ who leaves the body bears the results of his action during its stay, along with its intrinsic nature to the life after death.

Like a tiny seed containing an entire banyan tree, the ‘self’ carries its ‘Karma-phala’ when it leaves a body. Then it stays as infinitesimal particles of the five elements (Space, air, fire, water, and earth). This is called subtle or astral body (Vayava Sharir) in Vedanta. This aerial body has its own life time. In this physical world the duration of each individual is different. Similarly, the ‘self’ in the astral body, which is carrying all its natural instincts and the results of his action, have its own duration of life. Since the subtle body possesses the mind, it can experience and understand everything. As it does not have the physical body, it cannot act or react. But on rare cases it can affect the minds of one in million people and can control them. Such cases which don’t have any scientific explanation are reported from various places.

Let us think about it a little more. In our television set we have hundreds of channels. Each of these channels is tuned to a particular frequency. So each channel can accept only a signal in the frequency which it is set. These channels are identified using some numbers. So for viewing a channel, one has to press the number on which the channel is tuned. Even though the television set is working fine, we will not be able to view a program unless the channel is tuned to that particular frequency on which that program is transmitted. In the same way, each of our body is transmitting a form of electromagnetic waves in a particular frequency. Normally, the astral bodies are not capable to penetrate and take control of our minds and thus cannot make us to act as they desire. But in some rare cases, like the television channel which accept a particular frequency, the astral body can communicate with a physical mind which has the same frequency. Since these types of cases are very rare in this world, most of the people are not aware about it.

As I mentioned before, like our physical bodies having different life time, the astral body also have its own life duration. The age of the astral body is solely depends on its ‘Karma- phala’, the results of its action. After finishing its life time in astral form, the ‘self’ will then leave the astral body and reach a state called ‘Avyaktha’ (Unmanifested state). The ‘self’ with all its natural instincts which dissolved in the unmanifested state can be compared to a living being in the physical world in its sleeping state. Unmanifested state also has life duration. Later, the ‘self’ falls on earth through rain. The infinitesimal particles which were dissolved in the water are then absorbed by plants. These plants become the food of animals. A part of the food which an animal takes will become the ‘Retas’-the seed of life or the sexual fluids. In these gametes, several crores of souls in unmanifested state are present. But all the unmanifested bodies in the gametes cannot take a physical body. The ‘self’ in the unmanifested state can come out and take a physical body only in that environment where it can experience its ‘Karma-phala’, the fruit of its actions. That is why, the Upanishad commentators often quote “Every souls helplessly take a suitable body and coming to this world”. As you know, a seed can germinate only if some environmental conditions are achieved. Water, air and sunlight are required for a seed to sprout. If any of these elements are not present then the seed will not germinate. Like that, the ‘self’ in the unmanifested form can take a physical body if the conditions available are suitable for it to experience its ‘Karma-phala’. 

That is why it is stated that every soul helplessly takes a suitable body to experience its ‘Karma-phala’. The self which is bearing all the result of its action from the previous births, will circulate through water, plants, animals etc. until it reaches its suitable place for the birth. Millions of souls in its unmanifested body are travelling all around the world to find its suitable birth place. During this travel, it will live as insects, birds, plants, animals and finally after shedding some of the results of its bad actions take a human body. That is why, scholars always remind us not to waste this divine human life.  By performing good deeds, we; humans; can spiritually raise our ‘self’ to a higher level. Humans are the only known creatures who are capable of thinking about their own existence and the laws of nature. So human life should be utilized properly to attain the true end.

Only in the human form, the ‘self’ can know about the path it travels and the difficulties in taking a new body. With their special intelligence, humans think about themselves and the ultimate truth. But, some of us will not utilize this human life fruitfully. They disregard the truth described by the scholars and embrace sins. They do lot of bad deeds in their lives and thus degrade themselves and continue their path on different bodies. This travel of the ‘self’ is called ‘Samsara Chakra’ or ‘The Wheel of Life’ in Vedanta. That is why whoever understands this ultimate truth will always hail to do virtuous deeds and to attain knowledge and get liberated from the wheel of life. This liberation is called ‘Moksha’ – Salvation – in Vedanta. The vicious circle of causation will not end with death. Death is only a beginning of a new life. The wheel of life can be destroyed only when its root-cause, Ignorance, is destroyed. Otherwise, Ignorance being present, impressions arises; impressions being present, initial consciousness arise and so on. And Ignorance can be destroyed only by Knowledge. So Knowledge is the sole means of liberation. Ignorance is bondage; Knowledge is liberation. Every religion is preaching the same thing but in different ways. This precious knowledge which cannot be imparted to all people is called ‘Madhu-vidya’ – The Honey Doctrine - in Upanishads.

So the ‘self’ who remains in the unmanifested form finds a suitable place for its birth in such a way that it can experience the fruit of its past actions. This gives a logical explanation for the miseries seen in newly born babies. Nothing is happening in this world without a cause. Accidental occurrence is meaningless. All that we see are cause and its effect. Anything happens is the fruit of a past action. Take an example of digging a well. For that we need a suitable place. After finding an appropriate location, we should mark a circle as the area of the well. Before digging we don’t know how deep the water is. We are also unaware of the materials which we get while digging. But those materials which we are getting – the stone, clay, sand etc. – was present there before. The only difference is that when we start thinking about digging the well, we don’t know about them. How illogical it is if we think that the materials which we are receiving while digging are just accidental. Before we mark the location of the well all the materials which we received are there below including the water at the exact depth. But we are ignorant about that. Likewise if we analyze, all the events that is happening in this world are nicely wrapped with the cover called ignorance. Every one of us knows our date of birth. But we don’t know the date of our death. Is it means that we don’t have death? No, right? Everybody will die even though we don’t know the exact time. It is the law of nature. There is nothing accidental here. All what we see are the results of our past actions. Those who understand this inviolable law of the nature will not rely upon any accidental coincidence.

All of us had gone through lucks and misfortunes in our life. It is common to call any event as lucky or unlucky because they are unknown to us. But in reality there are no lucky or unlucky events. They are all the fruits of our past actions. To explain this, let us consider an example of two friends starting their journey to a distant location. Both of them are from similar financial background and could not find enough money for their journey. While they were walking, one person suddenly came and handed some money to one of the friends. When we watch this situation we will surely think that what the stranger did was wrong. He should give money to both of them. Both are in need of money to complete their journey. Why he handed money to only one person? But in reality, the stranger was giving the wages of his work. The person, who got the money unexpectedly, had repaired that stranger’s TV set the previous night. He was getting the fruit of his work. Since we don’t know about it, we consider him as lucky and the other guy unlucky. Same is applicable to all events happening in this world. That is why; our great philosophers always comment that our ignorance is leading us to consider any events as fortunate or unfortunate. Receiving a hidden treasure or winning a lottery is happening only to those who are qualified. They become the authority of those fortunes through their past deeds. We are ignorant about their past, so we call them fortunate. The only thing we can do for receiving such fortunes in the future is to qualify ourselves through our actions.

Now, let us again think about ‘The wheel of life’. The ‘self’ which leaves the body will remain with an astral body for some period and then dissolve to the unmanifested state. It will then come back to earth through rain and passes through different organisms.  Finally it reaches a suitable place to take a suitable body which helps to experience the result of its past actions. This is considered as ‘The wheel of life’. But how can we believe that all this is happening? It is a nice story to hear, but how come someone know about these things? Is there any scientific proof? Such questions may arise in your mind now. Let us check whether we can give a logical explanation to these doubts. Nowadays, we all are using different types of mobile phones. The fundamental use of these phones is to call someone who is far away from us. By pressing some numbers we can hear the sounds of our distant relatives. How is it possible? When we press a particular number, our phone will send a signal to the receiving tower which in turn sends a signal to the respective satellite. The satellite then act as a relay tower to establish a connection with the person whom you are trying to contact. While making a call, none of us will think about the minute procedures happening behind our calls. Most of us don’t know the exact things happening in the satellites which enable us to connect the person whom we are calling. Even we don’t know anything about it, we are sure that all these functions are required for connecting our calls. How can we believe that these things are happening behind the scene? We believe because scientists had done various experiments on this field. Even we are unaware, everything will work perfectly as it is conditioned. Among the millions of people around us, our call will connect exactly to the person whom we want. For this the only thing we need to know is the number to call. Nothing more is required. Whether you know the system behind it or not, your calls will always get connected. How can we deny the functioning of different instruments behind our calls just because we don’t know anything about it? What will be the reaction if somebody had described the functioning of mobile phones two hundred years back? Nobody would believe, right? Our ancient great scholars, with their intellectual minds, thought deeply about the journey of the ‘self’ and at last arrived at ‘The Wheel of Life’. They described it in various documents and those are the proofs for the existence of ‘The Law of action and results’ and the ‘Reincarnation’.

Hundreds of years back, one of the great Greek scientist, Galileo Galilei, described the heliocentric theory. But most of the people didn’t believe it. They believe that the Earth is the center of the Universe. Even though majority of people subscribed to the geocentric view, Galileo declared that the Earth is rotating around the sun. He declared that the truth does not need any argument, agreement, theories or beliefs. Likewise, even majority of people deny the above described truths, it will remain. The ‘self’ will continue its journey through the wheel of life until it reaches its goal.

We are all aware about the various calamities happening in this world? Is it happening only to a particular community? Or, are the followers of a particular religion are protected from miseries? Disasters are happening everywhere! Irrespective of the people, religion, country or place, it is happening to everybody! No one is protected from that. Misfortunes will come to those who go for pilgrimage and to those who comfortably sit in their houses! It happens to good and bad, wise and foolish, believer and non-believer and rich and poor. Even the saints and prophets are not spared. It is nature’s law. We have to admit it.

From the above described, none should relinquish the actions intended to him thinking that everything will work according to the law of Nature. The actions need to be performed without thinking about the results. If you suffer from a disease, it should be treated. Becoming ill is a character of the body. Only through proper treatment, a healthy body can be achieved. Here treatment is the action and health is the result of the action. Those who learn only can achieve knowledge. Here learning is the action and the knowledge is the result. So everyone should continue his actions without thinking about the results. This was declared in Bhagavad Gita in the following verse:

“Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana,

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani”

---“Thy concern is with action alone, never with results. Let not the fruit of action be thy motive, nor let thy attachment be for inaction.”---

 
You are qualified for work alone. And then, while doing works, let there be no desire for the result of work under any circumstances whatever. If you should have a thirst for the results of works, you will have to reap those fruits. Therefore let not your motive be the fruits of your action. When a person performs works thirsting for the result of those works, then he will be subject to rebirth as the result of action. Neither you be attached to inaction, thinking “Of what avail are these painful works if their fruits should not be desired?”

 (P. K. Somadas)

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