When God is the actual Doer, why are the souls subjected to the results of their karmas?

Question asked by a devotee: When God is the actual Doer, why are the souls subjected to the results of their karmas?  

Answer by Swamiji:  Many people diminish the need for self-effort in their minds by saying, "Nothing is in our hands.  God is seated within us.  He is the doer of all our actions, and we act as He inspires us."  However, this philosophy is not really true, as the following points will illustrate:

1. If God were the doer of all our actions, we would never have committed any mistakes.  All of our works would have been perfect, since God can never make a blunder.  The fact that we make innumerable mistakes implies that we are performing actions with our own free will.  
2. If God were the doer of our actions, we would not have to bear the karmic reactions.  Why would we suffer for works that God did through us?  He would either bear the karmic reactions on His own, or forgive Himself.  But there is the Law of Karma, "As you do, so you shall reap."  This implies that we ourselves are responsible for what we do. 
3. God is impartial towards all souls and perfectly just.  If He was the doer of our actions, He would either have made everyone do good works and become Saints; or He would have made everyone do bad works and become demons.  But there is so much of variety in the world.  One is a Saint, like Prahlad, while the other is a demon, like Hiranyakashipu.  This variety implies that we have the freedom to choose our own actions, and we are responsible for them, not God.   
4. If God were the inspirer of our actions, there would have be no need for Him to reveal the Vedas or any other scriptures.  There would be no need for Him to explain to us the path to perfection.  He would simply have to say two sentences: "O souls, I am the doer of everything.  So you do not have to understand what proper and improper action is." 

It is true that God is seated within us, and He gives us the power to act.  However, what we do with that power is decided by our own free will.  This is just as the powerhouse supplies electricity to your house.  If it did not give the power, you would not have been able to use any electric appliances in your home.  However, once you do have that power, what you do with it, is your own choice.  You could operate the fan, light the lamp, or heat/cool the house, as you wish.  

Similarly, God gives our eyes the power to see.  If He did not give us this power, we would not have been able to see anything.  But once we do have this power, what we see is in our own hands.  You could go to the temple and see the Deities, or you could see dirty pictures on theinternet.  God is merely giving you the power to see.  What you decide to see is your own choice decided by your free will.  Hence, we must not blame God for our mistakes.  If we do something wrong, we should take responsibility for the error and strive to correct it.

God works as a referee in our lives

Question asked by a devotee: After death someone becomes spirit, some go to heaven and some attain God.  What is the secret of this diversity?

Answer by Swamiji: This is the judgment of God.  In this world, God has given every soul the free will to perform the actions it chooses.  We are all tiny parts of God, and we possess the independence to act as we wish.  God never forces His will on us.  God's job is just like that of a referee.  For example, there is an umpire in a match of cricket.  Eleven players come for fielding and two for batting.  Along with the players, two umpires also come out on field.  They do not play or interfere in the game.  They simply stand there, note the actions of the players, and pass decisions.  "No ball!"  "Lbw!"  "Four runs!"  "Six runs!"  There is no partiality in it.  The players are free to play as they wish.  The umpires merely pass judgment.  Similarly, God too acts as the referee in our lives.

God has given us human body.  He has also given us the power of knowledge, so that we may use it to know Him.  Now, if someone uses this power of knowledge merely in procuring and eating delicacies to gratify the palate, God will say, "If your only goal was to eat good food, then this human body is not fit for you.  For this, a body of a pig will be perfect.  I'll give you a body of pig next time, so that you can be completely absorbed in the activity of your choice."

If someone uses the free will to put an end to the body, and commits suicide, then God says, "The pain you were getting was a result of your karmas, and it was your duty to bear it.  You have wrongfully put an end to your body.  So now you will not get another body for some time.  You will become a ghost, who has no gross body." 

If someone uses the power of knowledge in pursuing devotion, but is unable to reach the goal in this lifetime, then God will give that soul a human body in next life also, so that it soul may continue its journey to God.

God does three things: He gives us the power to act, He notes our actions, and He gives us the results of our actions.  The soul's destination after death is decided by its own actions.  This is called the law of karma.  We can know its broad principles, but nobody can understand its intricacies, and determine what the exact fruit will be, except God.

 

To what extent does our prarabdh influence our life?

Question asked by a devotee: There is some confusion and I would be really grateful if you would spare your valuable time to help me with it.  I want to know till what depth or what detail does the influence of our prarabdh extend in our life? We are free to do our karma. And what we get as a result of it....is it our prarabdh? And if it is our prarabdh then is it not pre decided? Then what is our control on what we do?

Answer by Swamiji: The matter of destiny and free will is really very simple. What is destiny? It is not something that comes to us out of the blue. Destiny is determined by the karmas we performed previously by our free will. You may even say that it is another name for our own past karmas. Another name for it is prarabdh, and it is decided at the time of birth, based on the karmas of our endless past lives. However, God has also given us a certain amount of free will that permits us to think and act as we wish. Actions performed by exercise of our free will are called purusharth.

Whatever we get in life is a consequence of both our destiny and the present effort. Consider the analogy of a game of cards. The cards that are dealt to you are unchangeable. This is like the prarabdh, which got decided by our past karmas. But how you play is in your own hands. This is like the purusharth, or actions that you perform by your free will. Good players can win even when bad cards are dealt to them, while bad players lose even when they have been dealt good cards.

Fatalists declare that everything is decided by prarabdh, and we do not possess a free will to do purusharth. However, the fact that prarabdh exists, implies that we have created it by our purusharth. If we did not possess the free will to do purusharth, there would have been no prarabdh either.

Now coming to your dilemma, it is not given to humans to know what exactly our destiny is. If you get good results in your exams, it could be the consequence of purusharth or prarabdh, or both. Astrologers do make attempts to predict prarabdh, but these are highly inaccurate and unreliable. Even if they could tell you your destiny, it would not help you. If an astrologer told you a good destiny, "You are going to pass in the exam," you would reduce your endeavour and become lazy. On the other hand, if the astrologer told you a bad destiny, "You are going to fail in the exam," you would become dejected. So while endeavouring, it best not to bring destiny to mind. Simply put in your best effort.

However, remember that the result of your work is not totally dependent on your efforts. So when the result comes, feel contented by thinking, "It may be because of my destiny or the will of God, etc." In this way, if the result is unfavourable, you will not be disturbed. And if the result is favourable, you will not feel proud. Thus, the sutra for work is: prayatna mein savdhan, phal mein santushtha. "Work very carefully, as if the results depend upon your efforts. Be contented in the fruits, thinking, they could be the result of destiny and other factors."