Controller

ವಿಧಿಗೆ ನೀಂ ಕಾರ್ಯನಕ್ಷೆಯ ವಿಧಿಸ ಹೊರಡದಿರು |
ಅಧಿಕಾರಿ ನೀನಲ್ಲ; ವಿಧಿ ಬೆಪ್ಪನಲ್ಲ ||
ಹದವರಿದು ವಿಧಿ ತಾನೆ ಕುದುರಿಸುವನೆಲ್ಲವನು |
ಅದಟದಿರು ನೀನವನ ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||

Try not to force a roadmap to fate, neither are you an authority nor is the fate an idiot. When the right time comes, things will all set right, do not try to disturb him, or chase him oh dull minded dumb fellow!

We all develop plans and blame others if they fail. We always seem to think ourselves as experts or authorities in the subject: "he should have done this way", "this is not fair", "I dont know why, I do not have any luck". But if we were experts we should have never failed, or we would not talk about luck. Strangely, when others achieve something it is by luck, but when we achieve something we would've deserved it. We are not just hypocrites but seem to think that we are in full control of our lives, but are we? Yes we are to some extent.

I was playing this game with my daughter once. We would push the train and make the train move by sitting inside the train. Believe it or not, we did make the train move, or so did my daughter think. We are no more intelligent than my 3 year old daughter was. We think that its our efforts that keep things on the move, but we forget that it keeps moving whether we sit in it or not. There is a driver who controls the train, who is the "vidhi raya", the "kaala chakra", the "karma" system who churns the wheel. We are just passengers in that. We have a journey to make, do what you may the direction of the journey does not change. You may try to change course but you could be punished; you could try to jump out of this cycle, this journey, but you could be wounded. We take different trains (different journeys) depending on our karmas and take a route that is predetermined for us. The only freedom we have is to choose what we want to do within the confinements of the compartment that we are in; may be move around across compartments once in a while, but even that is dictated by the facilities provided by the railway system. So is life.

When the destination comes the train stops and we can get off, but its better to be patient and wait for the stations to come while we continue to perform activities that we can (or should).

In Bhagawad Gita (3.5) Lord says:

"karyate hy avasah karma,
sarvah prakrti-jair gunaih
All men are forced to act helplessly according to the impulses born of the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.

In the same chapter (3.36) Arjuna inquires:

"atha kena prayukto 'yam,
papam carati purusah,
anicchann api varsneya,
balad iva niyojitah"
By what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?

Even before the war starts, after exhibiting the Vishwa Roopa DarshaNa to Arjuna, the Lord says: All the great warriors--Drona, Bhisma, Jayadratha, Karna--are already destroyed. Simply fight, and you will vanquish your enemies. All that we can do is to be "Instruments" and carry out our roles "nimitta-matram bhava savya-saacin"!!

We seem to have control but that control is not in our control, the control that is in our control is also controlled by a supreme controller. We are extremely minute and a negligible part of this creation and do not make any difference to this world (as a system, universe) though we may make some difference to some "people" on this system. Anyway.

There is a right time for everything; whatever happens, happens for good. Two popular sayings are beautifully potrayed in this verse.

Sri KrishnarpaNam.