The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : Divine plan unchangeable

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Divine plan unchangeable

CHENNAI, APRIL 14 : The plan of the divine never changes. This profound truth can be understood by any number of occasions when perfect plans, meticulously laid out, go awry. Such reversals are beyond human comprehension, which is why even persons dear to us turn inimical. The reason for such distress and distrust is destiny, arising largely from a person's past karma

In a discourse, Sri. M.R. Nagasubramaniam said that one of the stellar messages emanating from Lord Rama is His conviction that divine decisions cannot be changed. A case in point is Rama's step mother Kaikeyi. She was so affectionate and kind to him from the beginning but fate changed everything after Rama's coronation was announced.

Many people find it hard to accept the explanation of the inscrutable will of God. Lakshmana himself was not convinced of the theory of fate. When the call for banishment came, Rama averred that none can fight destiny. ``Is it not the work of providence, which puts a stop to something begun, and brings about, for no visible reason something that one has not prepared for?''

However, the fiery younger brother railed against his father's futile supplication to the jealous Kaikeyi's demand for the expulsion of Rama. Lakshmana rebutted Rama's argument and asked: `` How could a man like you so masterful, talk of the inexorability of the futile thing called the destiny? How can you praise that which is the refuge of the weaklings, and is itself powerless? It is the coward and the weak that wait upon destiny. Heroic men do not pay court to it. He who can overcome fate by his own strength will not have cause to sorrow.'' The Ramayana is a doctrine of ethical conduct, and Rama by example established that implicit obedience to elders overrides all other considerations.

Reiterating that dharma is the supreme end of life, the Lord in His manifestation unambiguously instructs mankind that no one can act just as he pleases; for destiny will cause upheavals that may not always be to one's liking.

However surrender to a higher will without any expectations is advocated for one and all. Rama symbolises righteousness in its entirety. None expounds this better than Lakshmana. When he sought to defeat the fierce Indrajit in battle, he submitted totally to Rama's principled ways and renunciation. At the defining moment, Lakshmana prayed that his arrow would find its true mark if Rama were a `dharmatma', (upholder of righteousness as stipulated in the scriptures) and justice prevailed.

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