The study of ethics presupposes that we can assert our will over our lower impulses. We cannot be held morally responsible for actions that are out of our control or not within our capacity to change. A moral system must be based upon an understanding of the nature of mankind and its capacity for change. Vedanta's theory of karma examines this issue of free will versus destiny.
The Law of Karma
The law of karma has often been confused with the law of destiny, when actually there is a great deal of difference between the two. Had the Vedantic law of karma been equal to the law of destiny, Hindu civilization would have long ago perished, as have all the ancient civilizations through history. The law of destiny has a corroding effect upon the human heart, and those who depend entirely upon it to guide them become weak-minded, passive human beings.
Those who believe in predestination, or that all actions and events have been determined since the beginning of creation, deny any personal responsibility for their actions, hiding under the cloak of fatalism-asserting that since they were fated to act thus, they are not to be held morally responsible for their low actions.
On the other hand, a people believing in and living up to the law of karma become dynamic citizens and spiritual giants. The law of karma is based upon the conclusion that this life is not an end in itself but is just an incident in the eternal existence of each of us. Each one of us is unique and each one's life is different from another's. The destiny of one is obviously different from that of another. Had this been the very first and the last of our births and had we all entered the world as equal, justice would have necessitated that we all have a similar experience of life.
Whenever we inquire into the differences among human beings, we arrive at the conclusion that, having risen from different causes, each of us should manifest as a different effect. Effects depend upon their causes. This life which we live is only one of our incarnations, according to the law of karma. From birth to death and from death to birth, the cycle goes on, but we do not appreciate it or understand it because we view life from a very circumscribed point of view.
We think that life means only the period spent by us from our birth to our death, and what we experience during this interval is the sum total of life. But let us for a moment take the example of a picture painted on a canvas. In order to see the entire picture painted on it, we have to step back some distance and only then can we get the entire view, the rhythm of the colours, the beauty of the shapes, and so on. Similarly, when life is viewed from a close perspective, we feel that it is illogical and unrhythmic. But when we stand back from our present life in detachment and try to view the whole of life in its entirety, we can begin to perceive a vast harmony and perfection.
Some of us blame the Creator for the sorrow or sin in our lives, and despair by saying that the sorrows have been fated to us. The Vedantins teach differently. It is important that we understand that there is a rhythm in the universe, that the planets move regularly, that the stars ride in their appointed paths, and that the natural laws never deviate from nature. Everywhere we can discover the law of 'rhythm', and everything conforms to that law. Why then, in the case of human life, do we say that there is no logic or reason in it?
Destiny (Prarabdha)
Each human being represents the various effects arising from different causes. The causes being different, the effects are different. Thus, every action of the past has its own reaction, and each of us must have a treasury of all these past reactions. This accumulation of reactions is called the sanchita karma. We should understand that after having lived the fruits allotted for the present life, called prarabdha, each person, while departing from life, takes the next form according to the pattern ordained by the ripened karmas in the total sanchita karma.
Let me explain it more clearly. Suppose I have a plot of land divided into orchards. In one, I plant coconut seedlings; in the second, apples; and in the third, mangoes. In order to germinate, grow and yield fruit, each seed must take its own time. Similarly, each action takes its own allotted time to fructify. Every action has its own reaction; certain actions give their reactions immediately, while others give their reactions after an interval.
To live out the reactions of our past actions, each of us needs to experience certain joys and sorrows, and in order to bring forth these required experiences, each must have a definite field, or loka, of his own experiences. The generally accepted meaning of the word loka is 'the world'. Etymologically, loka means 'a field of experience'. In the discussion of karma, loka means the special, private realm in which I live my subjective experiences.
Again, people misunderstand the real meaning of prarabdha when they use it to mean all the failure, impotence and selfishness in their character. If we are to be guided by this delusion that all our actions are predetermined, then in every act of ours there is no room for self-improvement through effort. There are some who justify their actions by saying, 'I have no faith in a Higher Good, and it is my prarabdha, so why should I try to live a noble, moral life? 'This is a self-defeating concept based on a defeatist mentality.
But then, where does this self-effort, purushartha, come in if prarabdha orders every situation? We have been given limited freedom by nature. For example, we cannot bend a piece of thick metal, but supposing the metal is beaten out and made into a chain-it then becomes pliable. Similarly, when a cow is tied to a rope in the centre of a pasture, it is not free to graze the entire field but can move freely only within the circle drawn by the rope. Similarly, although we have taken this form to live out a fixed prarabdha, we can reach the supreme goal of life by applying our pure motives and intelligent discrimination to harness the freedom allowed us from moment to moment.
We have come into this world to enjoy and suffer for our past karmas, through the circumstances ordered by our prarabdha. There is provision for us to discriminate and act rightly. For example, is there not a certain amount of freedom of choice involved in deciding whether to go to a cinema or to a temple? At every moment of life there is a challenge posed by the question, 'Shall I do this or shall I do that? 'Two distinct paths are open to us, the path of the good and the path of the pleasant. We find ourselves at every moment standing at the junction of these two paths. Often we are at a loss to decide which path to pursue. There is a tussle between the devil and the God in us at such a moment of trial. By adopting the path of the pleasant, we can get immediate but short-lived rewards, whereas by adopting the path of the good, we can gain the long-term goal, our full satisfaction.
Imagine the mind to be made up of soft matter. As each thought passes through it, an impression, like a scratch, is left on it. When similar thoughts are repeated, the small scratch deepens into a channel. Every subsequent thought has a tendency to flow through that ready?made thought-channel. Thus, if the impression, or the channel, was produced by good thoughts, then a good character is maintained and strengthened by the subsequent thoughts flowing irresistibly in that direction.
Let us take another example. Examine the working of the human mind. If you have a tendency to get angry and want to overcome that tendency, you should first of all feel repentant about it. Then you will have already suppressed the anger to some extent. Of course, pent-up anger will burst forth at a later date if you merely suppress it. But if you are intelligent, you should divert that energy to some other profitable direction. You should not succumb by meekly saying, 'It is my prarabdha to get angry.'
Carve out a new channel, fill your mind with repeated good thoughts. Repeat to yourself, 'I love all; or’ I am very tolerant.' Go on repeating the suggestive thoughts, and in a short time you will observe that you have no anger at all in your mental make-up.
First of all, we should be aware of our weaknesses. We must be fully aware of them. We are essentially the very composition of our minds. When we perform some actions repeatedly, our minds get fixed with certain impressions. The quality of our experiences depends upon the quality of the mind that undergoes the experience. The mind, being what it is, is conditioned by the various impressions that it has gathered in its different stages of life. Thus, when we control and chasten the motives and thoughts in our minds, we purify the mind itself.
Free Will (Purushartha)
At each moment of our life, we are not only living the fruits of our past actions, but also creating those for tomorrow. Similarly, at each moment we are preparing ourselves for the lives yet to come. Prarabdha is caused by the actions done in the past. Thus, if our prarabdha is a sorrowful one now, let us perform such acts today that can determine a happier life for us in the future.
The law of destiny does not explain to us how, even while we live the preordained and prarabdha-controlled pattern of circumstances, we can have in the immediate moments a freedom to create afresh (purushartha). This positive approach is an essential part of the law of karma.
A happier tomorrow is built only when we assert our will to live a divine life today. Religion asks us to entertain and live such values of life so that while living them we are able to create an ordered life, full of joys, in the future. Follow the righteous path of the good; avoid the by-lanes of the crooked, the unrighteous path of the pleasant. We must start and constantly keep on the right path to reach the goal of supreme good. If our course is in the right direction, we shall certainly reach our destination.
Yet another way of looking at the question of free will versus fate is by reviewing life in the light of the flow of time, wherein the future, through the present, is ever becoming the past. Anything that is now in the future must in time arrive to become the present and before long will pass on into the past.
We have already noted that the human intellect cannot rest without seeking the cause of things, but we generally do not take full advantage of this causation-hunting urge in us. If we search for the causes of our present life, we shall discover certain facts that reveal to us the inner meaning and the deep significance of the law of karma.
From the seed the tree grows; the seed is the cause and the tree is the effect. From cotton cloth is made: cotton is the cause, and cloth is the effect. Now, in all conceivable examples, the cause is anterior with reference to time, like the father of a child, and the effect is posterior, like the child born. The father was in existent before the child was born. Cause is thus that which was, and the effect is that which is. The past causes the present: the present will therefore, cause the future!
In short, it is said that the future is not a mystery, an unknown miracle that we must wait to see unfolded. The past modified in the present alone is the future. The things to come are not ordered by; mere continuity of the past. This freedom to modify the past and thereby create a future for better or for worse is called purushartha or self-effort.
To illustrate: a log floating down a river will move at the same speed at which the river flows, but if the log is fitted with a motor and manned by an intelligent driver, the log will have an independent movement of its own, although conditioned by the flow of the river. Let's assume that the waters of the river are moving at two miles an hour. When the speedometer on the log shows ten mile an hour, the log will move at twelve miles an hour down the river but only eight miles an hour if it goes upstream. The flow of the river will always be there; but because of the motor and the intelligence of the driver, the log has a limited freedom of movement now.
The plant and the animal kingdoms move just as the log the floats down the river, directed and guided by their inborn instinct and impulses. But we, having reached the human level, have acquire a reasoning capacity and a discriminative faculty. Using these two we can steer the ship of life safely to our destination, the higher goal we have set for ourselves.
To consider therefore, that the present is but a product of past actions (prarabdha) is undignified: to recognize that the future only a product of present actions (purushartha) is equally unintelligent there is no slavery, nor is there complete freedom. There is however a limited freedom, which, if used intelligently, can redeem us from all entanglements.
Thus, the law of karma, when understood correctly, is the greatest force of vitality in Vedantic philosophy. It makes us the architects of our own future. We are not helpless pawns in the hands of a mighty tyrant. If we are weak or sorrowful, it is solely because of our own willful actions. In our ignorance, we may have pursued certain negative values of life in the past, and their fruits have reared up now to give us the pattern of circumstances we are living today.
Still, take heart. By living rightly today the divine values of love, kindness, tolerance and mercy, you will ensure a more noble pattern for you; future. By honest introspection, you can detect your wrong tendencies and eliminate them through constant, deliberate effort. Develop positive thinking and thus come to be the creator of your own future life. Then only will lasting success be yours.
