What is the cause of suffering asked the disciple
Is it fate or chance that conspires in principle?
Or is there a divine plan that makes us manifest
In this world of duality, casting us into tempest
If it is true that chance governs the lower life
Then our universe hinges on the proverbial dice
Which is intolerable since we cannot be mere pawns
In an unfathomable universe into which we are born
On the contrary, if there is a divine plan involved
It is cruelty incarnate, since we are all evolved
From a God who seems to take pleasure in casting
Us, with intent inside a hostile fire ever lasting
But neither is truth, for in reality it is our choice
That we alone have the ultimate power to exercise
As to what we wish to be: shall we be the limited form
Or casting our minds aside, shall we be that unborn?
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This has reference to your composition entitled “ A matter of choice”. The controversy regarding fate and freewill has been exercising the minds of thinking men from time immemorial, and this is primarily due to, man’s confrontation with the inequalities in creation, which he finds himself unable to justify, particularly in a scheme of things, which the seers have proclaimed, is controlled and coordinated by a just and benevolent Providence. Anguished by such doubts, no less a person than Swami Vivekananda, in his poorvashram as Narendranath, cried out in agony, immediately after his father’s death, that “If I had the limitless powers of God, I would certainly have created a world that is much better than the one in which I find myself”.
In truth, both fate and freewill have their due places in the scheme of God’s creation. Every major religion has an element of prophecy in its mythological content, and this is adequate proof to establish beyond any vestige of doubt that fate does exist and it is inexorable. To quote an instance of such prophecies from Christianity I may mention the immaculate conception of Jesus, which was recorded in the old testament, written more than 1800 years before the actual birth of the Saviour. In Hinduism, we have a similar prophecy about Krishna being born as the eighth child of Devaki, and the part he would, ultimately play in the destruction of the demon Kamsa. Coming to more recent times and to cite but one example, Vivekananda has gone on record, stating that, a soothsayer had foretold many years in advance, that Vivekananda will grow up to become a monk. Also Vivekananda himself had foretold that he will not live to see his 40th birthday. All these prophecies, we know, ultimately proved to be remarkably accurate.
As you have mentioned in the last couple of lines of your verse, the statement made above is not meant to deny the due place for man’s freewill in the scheme of things. Far from it, in fact. The apparent paradigm will be resolved, when we realize that Man is not merely the victim of destiny, but is also its Maker. This is to say that fate or destiny is not something that is handed down to individual human beings, in a totally arbitrary manner,by a sadistic or capricious God, sitting in the isolated heights of the Himalayas. In fact the present circumstances in which one finds oneself, in this birth is the direct consequence of the way one has used ones freewill in the many births that have gone before. And this birth is yet another opportunity given to one by God, (perhaps it will be more accurate to say another opportunity chosen by oneself, as Aham, in truth,is Brahman), to make right use of ones freewill, to kick start and sustain ones progress on the path of emancipation, which is the ultimate goal of all created things. But the scope of exercise of this freewill is not absolute, but is conditioned by the circumstances one finds oneself in, during this birth, which in turn, is decided by ones fate. The moral therefore seems to be that eternal vigilance on ones part is essential, in exercising ones freewill so that each such exercise would aid and not hinder ones progress on the path of salvation. However the comforting thought, according to our scriptures is that in God’s scheme of things, spiritual emancipation is universal and not selective (as is claimed in some other major religions of the world) and every person will ultimately reach the same goal, though the time spent in reaching this goal, may differ from person to person, depending upon how he exercises his freewill.
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