Free Will or Destiny?

Yesterday my disciple asked me this question about freewill or destiny! She was of the opinion that we are ruled by destiny and that there is no free will.I shall answer this question here.

We all come to birth carrying our prarabdha karma with us.That is the karma which we have to expend during this birth.So if we have to get married to X then that's what is destined and will happen but then where does the free will come into the picture?

Here let me give you a perspective from Krishna's point of view.

He asked Arjun to lift his bow and arrow and shoot at Bhishma. Arjun was reluctant to do so since he could not kill his preceptor in the battle.

Krishna then said that if Arjun does not kill with his arrow, then any which way, He had destined Bhishma's death and that would happen but Arjun would fall down from grace and commit sin. Here the choice was to lift his bow and arrow and shoot or not to shoot! There was still a choice and free will to execute the order or not.

If the order gets executed then Arjun would be not committing any sin but if he didn't then Arjun would be committing a grave sin. Anyway, the death of Bhishma was destined and the Lord would have used any other means to achieve that objective of killing Bhishma. The prarabdha of Bhishma decided on his death but the choice of killing was with Arjun or any other source.Hence Krishna says that you must do your duty and not bother about the results. Since the results are bound by the prarabdha karma and will fructify into a required result only and will not change.

So, we operate on a canvas where the boundaries are decided but what we can paint is the choice in our hands.

Remember the newer karma(Agami or Futuristic) happens only if we have a choice.

That gets added to our old accumulated karma called Sanchit.

If we were only functioning within the purview of destiny then newer karma will not occur. Hence the newer decisions taken by us will enhance our karmic debts. We get to enjoy the bliss of heavens or fury of hell depending upon the inputs or choices we make in the lifetime.Every small act adds to the karmic debt so then it just goes to prove that we can never get out of the loop of lives and it is a infinite loop.

Think of a program for Java or C language. If we do not write the code properly then we put the program in an infinite loop.If we function only according to destiny(fixed program) then there is no choice and end will be nearer but not so if we decide and have a choice.

Now how do we get out of this infinite loop is to be studied here.

There are three methods of getting out of this freewill or infinite loop.

First is called the will of God. We just have to consider that the Lord is the doer and we are but a tool in His hands.We do not have any choice but to do what He wills. Now we can only know that if we understand our swadharma. Doing our Swadharma will not put us in that loop at all since we are following a bound script only.

The next is called Grace of God-If we have the grace of God then we are free from all troubles and can get out of this loops by His Grace only. He wants you out and He can take you out. No more than that.

Now the third is called the Grace of the Guru. In case your Guru finds you then He has the power to override the loops by shutting the program down for you.

You just have to follow what He says to you and do accordingly, all the karma's are getting to him by power of attorney which you have given to Him.He is like the guide on tour. You just have to follow the itinerary and do what He says. In case if you wander about, He will see to it that you come back to the fold.

So I suggest that you really take this seriously and follow the rules of the games otherwise you may get into an infinite loop from which you can never get out!