| Place of Destiny before a Discreet
Man |
 |
By Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Destiny is
a word which finds repeated place in our common parlance.
But it is an extremely abstruse concept, when it comes to a
question of discussing it and trying to make one understand
what exactly it denotes in our life, experiences and
actions. The reasons are first psychological, intellectual
next and philosophical last.
The concept
of Destiny is seldom explained in a proper background,
keeping in view the purposes for which it is evolved,
presented and accepted. Those who generally explain the
concept will cite some odd experiences of their or others’
lives and then suddenly ask for believing and accepting the
role of Destiny in all implicitness. Whenever one tries to
explain the role of Destiny claiming a better insight, the
idea becomes all the more distorted and no proper assessment
is reached at. I do not know whether I shall be able to give
any useful information on the idea and place of Destiny,
although we have assembled here to gain a better
understanding of what it means to every living human in the
context of his or her life in the world. Nevertheless let me
try.
I can think
of Destiny and its place in three distinct levels. It is
first a psychological prop to practically all kinds and
sections of people. Men, may be women even more, have their
life and influences first of all in the emotional and
sentimental plane. Although many speak of reason,
determination, decisiveness and the like, they have their
first roots in the ground of emotions. This fact cannot be
denied at any time. The basic emotional urges are desire,
dislikes and fear. All the other sentiments and urges are
further derivations of these three. While acting, while
thinking, while talking and making selections and choices,
you can find the gross or subtle influences of emotions in
every one. This is so because of the laws of nature.
The
emotions and the emotional needs will therefore have to be
treated and catered to. To ignore the emotional facet of our
life or to struggle to deny or suppress them will be to
damage the psychological health of our life in the world.
Naturally what every one needs at all times is to provide
for the emotional needs in his own manner and then find his
way to the level of reason, thoughts of propriety, and
trying to be as discriminating as possible in all matters.
Once you understand this principle, then I must say that the
thought of Destiny goes a long way in keeping any one’s
mind in a state of hope, confidence. Only when you have a
mind patient, stable and hopeful, the efforts you make will
tend to be creative and effective.
By Destiny,
we mean the clearly laid out law or course which governs
broadly one’s life and progress in the world, ever since
he was born. It appears that everything one desires for or
aspires to achieve in his lifetime cannot be realized in
full. At the same time, while making his efforts at progress
and achievement, often or rarely one may find favours and
fortunes coming to his lot, even when he does not normally
expect their grace. It is then a question of his reason or
forethought failing to conceive of whatever is likely to
befall his lot. In short, in place and out of place, man
finds himself in the midst of favours as well as disfavours
circumscribing his course of life. What will he think or say
then? While the events he expects to meet come to be, while
they fail to come in, then again if fortunes and blessings
which he finds not likely to take place in the scheme of his
thoughts do come to meet him, what is the possible line of
thought to explain away the fate he is put to? We begin to
say that it is all due to the play of Destiny, in whose
hands the small becomes the great, the great becomes the
small; the skilful turns a failure and the unskilled
suddenly becomes successful, and what not.
All this
just means that the facts of our life in the world do bring
in an array of contradictions, when we try to link them up
with our habitual cause and effect thoughts and principles.
These contradictions, one kind or another of which
invariably finds its place in every one’s life in the
world, compel man and woman to take resort to the queer
thing called Destiny, which has no shape, features or
character, static or definite. The indefiniteness of man’s
life in the world is thus ascribed to the indefiniteness of
Destiny. It is perhaps like shifting the emphasis from
one’s face, beautiful or ugly, to the reflection caused by
the mirror seen in front. By saying this I do not mean any
derision or denial of the concept.
I can think
of Destiny, the thought on it, as useful to us only if it
is able to restrict the undue haste and other unhealthy
emotions of our mind, thereby providing us with timely
confidence and strength to take up and pursue our objectives
from time to time. Once you begin to think in these
lines, then Destiny transcends the merely emotional plane to
become a proper intellectual evolute having its authentic,
irrefutable place in the lives of one and all. How?
You are
living in the world, hosted by the planet earth. Our body is
the visible connection for us with the earth and the world.
The birth and growth of this body, with the various organs
and parts it consists of, are strictly governed by the set
laws of nature. But for the consistent laws of nature, the
earth itself would not have been revolving as it does now
and causing for us the climate, the weather, the day and
night, the seasons of the year and the like, which enable us
to live as we do. The body governed by these laws of nature
do impose a great measure of restriction and discipline in
the matter of maintaining and using it for our purposes. For
instance, we have to breathe properly, eat well, exercise
the body adequately, and like these do a number of other
items too. Well, this is the bodily truth, the physical fact
about our personality.
By the time
our body has grown to a sizeable form and strength, the mind
too gets evolved, and with that the mental facet of our life
becomes strong in its expression. On the mental plane also,
as in the physical, Nature operates its laws. And the entire
mental welfare of ours has thus to be ensured remaining
within these laws. The laws governing the mind are called
psychological, or emotional. They are even more important,
especially in some stages, than the bodily laws. The mental
plane constantly throws us to emotional complexity born of
what are popularly called dvandva,
pairs of opposites. We call the pairs of opposites so
because they always remain as pairs, one of the pair opposed
to the other, both together constituting the complexity of
the mind every time.
The law
about the pairs of opposites compels every emotional
development to be opposed by its opposite. Thus confidence
is always subject to diffidence, hopefulness is threatened
by hopelessness, fearlessness by fearfulness and so on. This
is the law of human mind, its course. Being subject to it,
what is every one to do, when his confidence declines or
stands threatened? When we foster a wish or ambition and
begin to make efforts to realize it, sooner or later comes
in a doubt or fear as to whether our effort will succeed or
fail, whether we will be impeded by one factor or another in
the process. The doubt may be genuine, or may not be. Even
when factually there is no scope for hindrance, the mind
will likely think of one and get victimized by it. The
mental process overpowers almost all people. It is not the
fault of any one. I should say it is the fact and fate of
human nature, the human mind and its working.
There are
limitations for us in every front. The mind can work only
being governed by the laws of the mind, as the body can in
its turn by the bodily laws. What wrong or deficiency is
there? As for the intelligence, that too is subject to the
laws operating on it. The limitations are not made by us,
they are held by Nature and pronounced upon us. We are to
recognize and make ample provision in our own mind to
reconcile with them and their consequences. If you do so,
you will not have any occasion to grieve over any instance,
either on account of your own failure or the disfavour
arising from any quarter.
Knowing
that we are limited in our ways and the limitation is more
to be accepted than countered, the better insight will be to
remain reconciled with ourselves as well as the world
conditions in which we are from time to time. This broad
reconciliation must help us not to lose heart, or give vent
to doubts and apprehensions in and out of place. At no time
should our confidence and creativity be led to danger. Let
there be obstructions, thwarting currents on our path, yet
‘I shall do my best and most sincerely’. Although there
is an area of freedom for us in our life, it is surely
circumscribed by a variety of limitations brought about by
our own body, our own mind, our intelligence, then by the
others, by the world at large. A clear-cut evaluation of
this nature becomes an intelligent assessment of our own
place in the context of the world. That is the way to equip
ourselves intellectually with the idea of fate to the extent
it is necessary.
At this
stage it becomes an evolute, a postulate, which helps us to
mould ourselves after an ideal, after a fact, a real
situation. Apart from fostering a mere faith, or making an
implicit acceptance, we begin to understand the state of
affairs in the world, and in its context, our own
limitations. And on that basis, various limitations and
hindrances which we have to meet any time in our course are
recognized. Our mind makes an ample provision within itself
for any development to take place any time in our life. The
rigid nature of thinking and expectations gradually give
place to flexibility and an unfailing sense of confidence
and strength. All this never at the cost of our
enthusiasm to work for the objectives we set for ourselves.
Also the occasion for disappointment or frustration gets
ruled out, as we grow in our understanding. As against a
psychological prop, whole issue turns out to be a clear
intelligent assessment and then preparing of our emotions in
the new light. You will find this level of attunement is
rarer than the psychological level we discussed earlier.
Now let me
go to the philosophical verdict on Destiny or fate, as it is
applicable to a man or woman of sound viveka
(discrimination). Is there anything like an absolute Destiny
governing the life of an individual? If there is, what it is
or will be? The answer is never a full ‘yes’, if we
think about the nature of man’s life and role of viveka
in it. All that one can say about life is that it is broadly
indefinite, in every way, but there is normally a course of
likelihood or probability in it. The limitations we have
from the body are much more than those emerging from the
mind level. The area of freedom man has within the
mind-sphere is almost limitless. The power of thought is
supreme, if you come to know of it closely. Reaching the
level of intelligence, the freedom is even more. To the same
sight or provocation outside, two individuals can and in
fact do react in opposite ways. The children of parents who
are given to bad habits, sometimes, instinctively as well as
intellectually feel that they should not follow those whom
they see in front, but find their way different. It can be
the other way round as well.
If you read
the mythological compositions of our thinkers, they have
described several instances in which the so-called fate of
death of a dear one has been reversed due to timely penance,
austerity and discipline. In religious traditions as also in
astrological forecasts, every fateful situation predicted is
immediately followed by the suggestion to overcome it, or
reduce its intensity, by taking to special and steadfast
austerity or devotional disciplines. What does it mean? With
the help of Almighty, that is what people generally say, His
Grace, or, with the help of your own mind, its power of
redemption, you can get away from even the severest of
dangers. The idea is always to make a forecast and then
prepare the victim to face it with a sense of caution,
forbearance and a special blessing from the Almighty, the
Maker and Master of every one’s destiny. The story of
Savitri tells us how she succeeded in redressing her sure
widowhood for having got married to Satyavan, much against
the prophecy of the Sage that Satyavan would die too early
in life.
The only
way I can explain Destiny at any time is that it is
indefinite on all grounds and at all times. Rains fall on
the mountain top. The water gets collected from various
parts and at one time, in a certain spot on the top, the
nucleus of a river is formed. That means the water collected
from all around has begun to flow. The moment the flow
starts on, we call the process a river in the initial stages
of making. All that we can say about the river is that it
will flow on and on and finally will terminate on meeting
the oceans far below. Is there any definiteness about the
directions and paths in which the river will flow, the
distance it will cover, the bifurcations it will give rise
to before the entire course is completed? There are rivers
which change their directions even after several years of
continuous existence!
Also it is
possible for man to make dams and other structures to
intercept, contain or divert the rivers. All these are as
effective as the rivers themselves. With all this done, the
river will surely flow on and on, until it reaches the
destination. The life of the human individual is also alike.
Birth marks the beginning of one’s life-flow, and the fall
of the body its end. Between the two, there is no
definiteness at any time as to what will happen to him, what
all can be achieved, and where all will his course be led to
from time to time. In spite of the indefiniteness, he
certainly has his freedom, selection and choice. The path of
discrimination can be adopted not only within the so-called
area of Destiny, but also to moderate or even gently alter
the very course of ‘Destiny’. As is the voice of
Destiny, so also is that of paurusha (human
intelligence and will). The Shaastras give equal
importance to both. Paurusha has its own place of
creativity.
If
everything is dominated and guided by Destiny, where does
the question of doing anything at all arise? The Shaastras
on the other hand stress repeatedly the need for making
timely efforts and for cultivating an ample sense of
discrimination. The process should not be a kind of fight or
competition. It should be a gentle and moderate application
of one’s own potentials with a view to realize what best
is possible in every situation.
I generally
cite an example to illustrate Destiny: Imagine a cow tied to
a peg with a long rope for grazing. The animal goes round
and round eating from wherever she likes. After several
hours she fills her stomach. There are cows that get
entangled in the peg. There are some who can also get
disentangled by walking the opposite course and thereby
regain the full freedom which the length of rope
permits. The course of Destiny and the freedom it gives to
the individual are also alike.
There is
nothing like a fully predetermined course of life, anything
totally unalterable by nature. At the same time, there is no
life which is completely free of all limitations. All
persons are not equally tall. The taller man can walk
generally faster. That does not mean the shorter ones will
not be able to live and move about as effectively as do the
taller ones. When both get into a vehicle, the difference in
heights or the length of legs has no consequence either.
As for the
limitations and dangers which confront us in the name of
Destiny, this is what I feel: Limitation is always a
counterpart of freedom. There can be nothing like an
absolute freedom in any context. Each unit of existence, the
more so a human individual, is born or made as an effect of
a certain or a number of causes. The effect will have to
depend upon its own causes, their nature and scope. That
means, there is a measure of conditioning, restriction or
limitation when anything is born or made. To be so is not
strange at all.
Is there
not a particular course (trajectory) and a limit set for the
revolution of the earth, which makes its course cyclic? The
situation is a sequel to the very birth of the planet, the
forces of gravity belonging to it as well as the allied
planets and bodies. Will you say the course of the earth is
determined by fate?
Then, let
us take the system of rail and road transportation. The
rails and roads are made by man, the expert designers and
engineers from the human society. There is nothing
predetermined about them, for the whole evolution is from
man himself. No God comes in the process at all. The
vehicles are designed and manufactured by man, in his own
factory. The rule of traffic are also evolved by him. Men
are appointed by man, taught by him, and entrusted with the
task of running the whole system. In spite of this all, do
we not have accidents on the rail as well as road fronts?
Whenever an accident takes place. an enquiry is held, and
invariably reveals that the outcome has been due to a
mechanical failure of the vehicle or due to the inattention
or lack of caution in man in abiding by the traffic rules.
Often we find spots or turns notorious for accidents, and
the road experts are dealing with the situation by taking
special precautionary measures to remedy the defects. What
does all this indicate?
Failures,
accidents, clashes, dangers and the like are an
indispensable fate in the course of our life on earth,
whether it is in the sphere of the mind, or of matter and
energy. Like friction in obstructing and facilitating
motion, like obstructions from the earth itself to the flow
of water upon it, these are part of the entire process. We
call many diseases incurable. Calling them so are we just
remaining helpless? Research studies are done again and
again, and as a result, in some cases, we evolve preventive
or curative measures. Even then you will find new
confrontations coming up, and the process of containing them
is therefore still on and on.
If you mean
by the term ‘Destiny’ the several limitations which
circumscribe our freedom and efforts in the various spheres
of life, or the likelihood of dangers and risks facing every
one from time to time during his journey on this earth, then
it makes some sense. But by Destiny is not meant just this
at all. People interpret Destiny as a collection of unique
consequences pronounced upon the individual much earlier
than his birth in the world. These consequences had arisen
from causes which existed earlier to his present life, and
being so there is no question of denying them or trying to
get relief from their marked display. And in that sense, I
cannot approve of Destiny at all. There is no Destiny which
curses people any time. There is no Destiny which will not
relax its hold however much one may make an effort for the
purpose. The Almighty is not one who subjects all the people
to a peculiar merciless law, intended to punish them or even
reward for something they did prior to their births in the
world.
On the
other hand, I would like to speak of the Almighty as
all-mighty indeed, and merciful too. The thought of the
Almighty should be such as to give you enough confidence,
strength and salvation from the continuing ‘threat of
Destiny’. In this way the concept of Destiny changes in
its emphasis and influence. It becomes a unique source of
hope, patience and forbearance
Try to make
your way positively in the midst of whatever limitations and
confrontations you may meet from time to time in your path.
Failures or lack of favours, if there are, you may ascribe
to the area of Destiny, and yet find your comfort and
promise every time. Or, even when you make remarkable
headway, if achievements and credits flow to you in abundant
measure much beyond your own reasonable expectations, avoid
getting unduly elated or proud by again bringing the thought
of Destiny, who is apparently kind to you. This will be a
skilful means of keeping the mind healthy and cheerful by
safeguarding it against depressions as well as inflated
delights. Extreme delights are in a way as bad as extreme
depressions. The best is the path of moderation, the
middle-path of evenness of attitude. And nothing conduces to
its preservation as much as a right understanding of Destiny
and aligning it with your own paurusha (assertion of
human will) and viveka (discrimination)
On the
philosophical front I have something more to say. But let me
stop for the time being with whatever we have discussed,
wishing you the best of strength and hope in whatever be the
so-called indefinite Destinies of you all.
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