Satyopanisad

[Guest guest]

Swami! One cannot escape from the effects of fate or destiny. Things are

pre-ordained, and accordingly events happen in our life. This being inevitable,

we suffer and face difficulties. Would you please tell us the way out of this?

 

Everything in life is nothing but a reflection of your own thought and deed of

your earlier life or lives. You pretend happily to think that none can notice

you. But God within you knows full well all your thoughts, feelings and deeds.

God is everywhere. You cannot hide anything from Him. One day or other you must

face the consequences of your actions. This is the supreme truth.

 

You think and blame someone else, holding him responsible for your troubles .You

are thoroughly mistaken here. Your actions are responsible for both the good and

the bad you experience in this life. God is an eternal witness of all human

activities. He created this world and gave it to man for his enjoyment, but on

one condition that he must face the consequences of his own actions. God is like

a postman. He is least bothered about the contents of the letters that he hands

over to people. It is all a matter of relationship that exists between you and

the one who writes you a letter. God is not concerned in any other way about the

matter. Well, you receive a wedding card, you don't pay complements to the

postman, do you? If you receive a threatening letter from someone, you don't

blame the postman either. The postman is merely an instrument in the process of

delivering letters. But prayer does help you to withstand tensions and problems

with courage. Intense prayer, deep devotion, strong faith, sincere repentance,

constant yearning and supreme love for God can alter the sequence of events in

life. They can make even God reverse His own will. Take for example, the life of

Markandeya. Fate granted him only sixteen years of life. But his devotion to

Lord Siva was so intense that He made him immortal. God had to review and revise

His own master plan in response to the prayers of Markandeya.

 

Take another example. There is a prisoner punished according to the laws of the

penal code. During the period of imprisonment, if the character and conduct of

the prisoner are found to be good and if he follows all the rules, regulations,

and code of discipline imposed by the jail authorities, there is scope for the

reduction of his jail term. There is another point you should note. Suppose the

appeal of a person in a criminal case is lost in all the courts from the

district level to the High Court even the Supreme Court, and when punishment

like death sentence or life imprisonment becomes imminent and inevitable, the

President of India can still order his release from jail on grounds of mercy and

for special reasons. Similarly, though you are bound to suffer and destined to

face difficulties as a result of your past actions, God in response to your

sincere prayer and repentance will change the course of your life and save you

from your suffering. God confers special grace on you being pleased with your

single-minded devotion to Him.