Amlan Shekhar Baruah
What determines our destiny? Is it determined by our luck, the different circumstances we face in life, and other external factors that are beyond our control? Or is it determined by our actions and thoughts? Should we always believe that we can continue doing what we love? Or should we stop and give up on our beliefs and dreams when we face hard times in life? Let us see what the Bhagavad Gita has to say about all of these.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, your destiny is always dependent on what you believe in and how much effort you put into it. Luck, good and bad circumstances, and other external factors come and go and are only temporary. If you can endure all of these external factors courageously and stay committed to your beliefs and dreams, you can certainly achieve whatever you want.
Verse 3 of Chapter 17 of the Bhagavad Gita states:
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śhraddhā bhavati bhārata |
śhraddhā-mayo ‘yaṁ puruṣho yo yach-chhraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ ||
“The faith/belief of every being is in accordance with their innate nature. A being is made by their faith; whatever their faith is, that is truly what they are.”
The Sanskrit word “śhraddhā” approximately means one’s faith or belief in something and one’s dedication towards it. So the meaning of the above verse is that your beliefs and ambitions, and your commitment to those beliefs and ambitions, make you exactly who you are. Your destiny is not based on luck, circumstances, other people’s perceptions of you, or other outside factors. Instead, what you believe in, how much you believe in it, and how much effort you put into achieving it will determine your destiny. Of course, external factors may have some impact on your destiny, but that is only a tiny impact compared to the impact of your beliefs and dedication towards them. The major portion of your destiny is determined by how you react to those external factors, depending on your dedication to your beliefs and dreams.
Verse 14 and 15 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita state:
“O son of Kunti (Arjuna)! The contact of the bodily senses with objects gives rise to feelings of heat and cold, happiness and sadness, etc. These come and go and are temporary, so endure them, o Bharata (Arjuna). O best of beings (Arjuna)! That being who is not affected by these and remains steady in both happiness and sadness becomes fit for immortality (liberation).”
Good and bad situations and other external factors keep coming and going in life, and thus they last only temporarily. However, your beliefs and dreams will last depending on how much you believe in yourself and how dedicated you are to them. If you believe that you can do something and put your heart and soul into it, nobody and nothing can stop you from achieving it. It may take time, but that does not matter. If your beliefs and commitment to your beliefs are bigger than your bad situations and other negative external factors that hold you back from moving towards your beliefs and goals, you will certainly be able to overcome all of these external factors and ultimately achieve all of your beliefs and goals, sooner or later.
No situation, whether good or bad, determines your destiny. There are some people who can create the best out of even the worst situations, while there are others who create the worst out of even the best situations. Therefore, your destiny is always determined by your actions and not by the external world. The effect of the external world on you is just a small part of the endless life of your immortal soul. How you handle those external factors forms a major part of your life. Therefore, always believe in yourself, do what you love to do, believe that you can do it, and put your full dedication into it.
