Is Karma About Free Will or Destiny? | In Conversation with PVR Narasimha Rao
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Disclaimer: Infinity Foundation has conducted the interview with the guest only on the domain expertise that he has in the field of Jyotisha. Infinity Foundation is not responsible and may or may not subscribe to any of his views held on any subject.
PVR Narasimha Rao has a bachelors degree from IIT, Madras and a masters degree from Rice University, Houston and lives in greater Boston where he works as a firmware manager at a top semiconductor firm. He received "Sanskrita Bhasha Kovida" and "Sanskrita Bhasha Visharada" diplomas at an age of 11 and combines his Sanskrit knowledge with scientific temper to conduct fresh research into the teachings of rishis.
He is an astrology researcher, author, teacher and also the author of popular Jyotish software "Jagannatha Hora" used by many Vedic astrologers and students across the world. Thousands of spiritual seekers are performing daily homa (fire ritual) for the dawn of a new Dharmik era on earth and individual spiritual progress, using free and simplified homa manuals on his website (www.VedicAstrologer.org).
In this episode, PVR Narasimha Rao explains how Jyotisha Shastra is sub-divided into multiple parts such as predictive astrology and so on. He explains the concept of Natal horoscopy, and how it differs from the Prashna(Question) horoscopy, usually predicted at a later stage of one's life, while seeking answers to particular events. He also explains the Karma theory, types of Karma, and the role it plays in the course of one's life. Rao explains the concepts of free will, destiny, and the correlation between the two. This episode highlights the fact that the theory of Karma is integral to Jyotisha Shastra.
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Disclaimer: Infinity Foundation has conducted the interview with the guest only on the domain expertise that he has in the field of Jyotisha. Infinity Foundation is not responsible and may or may not subscribe to any of his views held on any subject.
How can I consult Mr Rao ?
Hello Rajiv ji loved both of the videos amazing knowledge shared by Mr. PVR Narsimha Rao would love to see the third part of it!!
A very informative session overall, but it is sad when the word destiny is used to describe the untranslatable word Karma-phala. The concept of destiny has only foreign origin word equivalents and have very different meaning or connotations.
I wanted to show my charts to Mr.Roa , is it possible...???
Dont worry on disclaimer; PVR Narasimha Rao is an Genuine Astrologer
He's spot on! Surprisingly,this thought was dawned on me while meditating few weeks ago. So true!
"Actions of free will in the past,becomes your destiny now and actions of free will now,adds to your destiny".
PS:I know people wouldn't understand the depth of this wise statement;I wouldn't have too, lest it is personally felt!
try sam harris book called " freewill"
Very interesting. Do we have free wifi in the first place? There are scientific experiments done which show that we really don’t have a free will! There’s a video on this by Swamy Sarvapriyanda ji of Ramakrishna mission on this. I will try to post the link.
czcams.com/video/VzbyeU3dK4g/video.html
@@mmganesh6087 thanks for recommending the book.. will explore
Rama Krishnan we do have free will to do whatever we can,that’s your karam.That karam decides your destiny in next life.
If we don’t have free will then who is doing all this karam?god?
Why will god make some people do karam and others to do bad?is that a justice?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar described free will and destiny in a beautiful manner through an example , our weight is a free will and height is our destiny .
Lol. What if a person is suffering from a disease? Like thyroid diseases or hormonal imbalances.
Don't listen to these baba log my friend. Apna dimag lagao
@@advocatewalia4316 it's curable. I cured my thyroid and hormonal imbalances. Try vegetarian diet, pranayam, fasting, walking, learn to manage your stress. Fix your gut first then take necessary steps.
Yes but no simple definition can capture it all. Like for example, height is ur destiny but the interplay between free will and destiny still doesn’t get explained through the example. There is a book from 1800s “Kriya Rahasyam” which explained this free will vs destiny in an excellent way.
we learn so much information and proud to be Santana dharma . jai shree rama Bharat matha ki jai.
Jai shree ram bharat mata ki jai
We have "free will" to lift one leg in any direction,to do anything(पुरुषार्थ); but at the same time , the another leg is always tied with ground by gravity of Prarabdh(प्रारब्ध).
Very interesting concepts being discussed. I need many repetitions to understand this outstanding series based on Vaigyanik Jyotish vidya.
Dhanywaad to team
Seeing how it's done is cool to watch.. If you have time, see example readings done..
This one is for the question: Will I get the job? czcams.com/video/dKS3D5BrQFw/video.html
Destiny is to the body and freewill is to the mind, but when the mind is absent as in deep sleep or destroyed asinSelf realization, there is neither destiny nor freewil. So, these are all the games of the mind. For a self realised person thre is neither destiny nor freewil, but, for onlookers the realized man also seem to suffer and enjoy, as they are functioning woith in the realm of mind only.
Living legend Shri PVR Narsimha Rao
I loved the free will destiny piece - today's destiny is yesterday free will. However the events of life of a person don't depend on just that person alone but people around him and by extension,their karmas, environment he is in (PESTLE) . That is when it gets complicated.
In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna explains the different kinds of yoga , karma yoga, buddi yoga, bhakti yoga etc in the yoga ladder. The particular yoga determines, the consciousness in which one executes his karmas of thought, words and action. These karmas binds the jivaatma in the endless cycle of birth and death.
The goal of the jiva is to achieve mooksha. In order to achieve mooksha , one has to finish his karma, both good and bad , in a sense burn them up completely. How to do this ? Krishna explains if you act in Niskama karma ( action in the interest of Krishna ) , one can burn up the good and bad karma and achieve mooksha. Of course this requires proper understanding and training. What is the point of doing puja if it doesn't interrupt karma phala.
So the challenge is to understand what Niskama karma is theoretically first and by doing sadhana , acquire practical experience of it until one gets to act in Niskama karma. So without studying the shastras and doing sadhana under a bonafide Guru in authorised diciplic parampara it is just not possible. No mental or intellectual speculation will help. Without daily sadhana it's not possible to understand the gunas or the modes of material nature, without which it's not possible to understand Vedic shastras or vedangas like jyotisha.
Nishkama karma doesn't finish up ur karma. It is impossible to erase ones Prarbdha karma. Even lord krishna died being shot by an arrow, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa suffered from cancer despite being Jeevanmukthas. Vivekananda suffered from dozens of physical ailments. Nishkama karma has nothing to do with erasing ones karma. To understand Nishkama karma, we must understand the nature of Maya. Maya which originated from Bramhan is basically the physical expression of the metaphysical Bramhan. And Maya is always in action or Karma. So Karma is inevitable, for anybody, because our physical bodies are a part of Maya and as long as we are bound to physicality, there has to be action, in one form or other. So when Krishna is talking about Nishkama karma, what he is basically saying is that Karma is inevitable as long as we are bound to a physicality, so Krishna advices to perform Nishkama Karma , and not get caught in Maya.
@@akkirakki without being free from maya how can you do Nishkam karma? Nishkam karma is a way to moksha not just in hinduism but jainism, and Buddhism as well.
@@mahvirdas Nice summary. This is basically essense of gita. One question arises: God has given every essential knowledge innately. Every living being knows how to breath, feed itself (not just humans) and many other essential things right from birth. So why only how to get rid of karma is made so complex and not given us innately. Why did god has to come and give special training for that.
That means all those who did not get that training have no chance escaping this cycle of birth. Now what about people who were living in Anarctica, syberia, china and other remote parts of world they would never know this and hence will never get out of this cycle.
Even many in India itself would not know,
2. There is a high propability that knowledge will get corrupted it increases as hops between source and final receipient increases. Why would not god provide such important knowledge to every human personally.(telepathy or innately).
3. Did god even know that there were people living in other parts of the world, because he mostly talks about people living in India. does not look like he knew there were people living outside india.
4. All points above in mind does it look like god is omniscient and fair?
5. If we find alien life some where in universe tomorrow, does that mean gita is not said by God, because God did not know about aliens?
Alpesh Mittal I don’t think moksh is that easy,even people living in India cannot get moksh easily because there are less people who follow Yajnas.most people don’t even know what is Yajnas.yajnas is first step to moksh written in Vedas.
Any person who do good deeds more than bad deeds becomes a human again otherwise that human becomes some creature and takes a human form again,when his/her bad karma gets equal to his good karma.
This same thing applies to China,anatartica or wherever as laws of nature applies everywhere.
2)god provided knowledge of Vedas to four rishis in starting of this world because they didn’t had any distractions as there was no maya.and now it’s impossible for us to get that knowledge because of maya.
3)Vedas doesn’t talk about India or any other country,Vedas are for whole humanity irrespective of a place.
4) god is omniscient and fair,god is partial to just India.
5)it is written in Vedas,we live in omniverse and not in universe.so there can be aliens. And if there is anything which contradicts with Vedas is not true,as it is written in Vedas.gita,Mahabharat,Ramayan can be corrupted by someone but not Vedas.
Narasimharaoji is very learned and this was a wonderful interview. I love this format - the questions are probing and rational and allows Narasimharaoji to logically explain so that many people get the correct understanding of what Jyotisha does.
There is one point where things can be described slightly differently. This is my understanding. See, like he said prarabdha is the karma you have experience in this life. The analogy is a pot of boiling water. Now the "free will" part of life is if you experience your karmas more quickly and in the process create as less of bad karmas as possible. So if you do things well, then you come out of the experience in a much better shape. All negative karma experience is basically a learning the soul has to take which it ignored or did bad towards in the past.
For e.g. suppose you have to experience a bad relationship with father, now you can either go through it with resilience, not retaliating - shouting at father or others, just taking it in. On the other hand another person faced with same situation can react in a very negative manner and he may do bad things to others. So this is where things can diverge for two individuals. They may have come with the same type and level of karma but go through in this lifetime differently and hence one evolves spiritually upwards, while other one goes down.
Here is where remedies come in. When you do mantras or sadhanas, then you are making the pot boil quickly, so instead of going through terrrible experience and all the consequent things, you put your mind to God and do penance. That not only resolves these karmas but also puts you on the right path
"Free Will" is a useless term. The right term should be "listening to Guru" - when one truly and properly listens then one gets the right insight which helps take the right path and hence alter the Destiny to come. If a man uses his own mind, he will go down - because mind just wants to do bhoga, experience the senses. One must let a higher mind or higher intellect to guide one.
one of the greatest no doubt!
Insightful and educative. Endorsed vedantic teaching often stated by Swami Vivekananda 'I am the maker of my own destiny'.
8:34 topic freewill Vs destiny
Lot of things Sh PVR said makes lots of sense. Defining destiny and the present day free will was very informative. Hope to continue the series and learn more!
My views on Rao’s explanation are similar based on my interaction with a friend
who is very good at Prashana shastra. In fact he recommends solution to any of my friends issues when I present their problem on phone. Every human is not only changing his karma minute to minute but also contributing to society / nations karma.Further a family units karma is summation of husband+ wife+ children’s karma. Also vastu of their residence plays a role. Hence jyotishyam prediction is a blue print provided to an individual mainly to understand direction in life, but he has to do karma or will be forced to do karma. Only a niswarth astrologer will have intuition power to explain result of charts and of course with divine permission. Just imagine how ones karmic result is linked to entire human karmas, hence its manifestation has no fixed time. It can happen from any time , which no human, even god cannot predict. Thanks Rao garu for promoting Jyothi shastra, which gives hope to human believers. Namaste.
Actions create destiny:
Sow a action, reap a tendency
Sow a tendency, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character
Sow a character, reap a destiny
Destiny is in our own hands
Suffering karma in this birth:
Adruda: will go away with actions/self-effort
Drudadruda: can be decreased/mitigated but will not go away
Druda: one has to suffer
100% (especially strong karmas)
Yes free will does exist, no doubt about it. But some things are constant and pre-destined, for example the family you were born, the diseases some may get at birth, the richness or poverty at birth, being born in a brahmin or shudra or mlecha family etc, all these pre-destined based on past karma, and not much you can do to change this. I feel very pained when how destiny is misunderstood in a massive way and how this misunderstanding is tarnishing the science of astrology. Thank you PVN rao for your insights.
Destiny is defined as consolidated fruits of actions undertaken in all previous times including previous lives.They form in a seed of the causal body n become the very basis of one's Nature (स्वभाव).The way one feels,perceives or thinks is solely dependent upon this स्वभाव
One may not be able to change one's destiny or karma is the short run but one can change the way one experiences them. By accepting them first and find means to get over bad karmas and accumulate good ones through by developing virtues and purity. It is said that the pure devotee of the Lord is always grateful and cheerful even under trying circumstances. In today' context no matter what your circumstance it is far better than that of migrant workers on the run or those afflicted with virus or those who are responsible for treating them (Although they might be getting rid of negative Karmas and creating positive ones. The real smart ones therefore be willing to face their Karmas head on (do you have any other choice)?
the best video in this series with Narasimha rao ji.. i liked the term of karma balls.. wonderful
Outstanding subject and description by Shri Rao. Very clear and logical. He should be encouraged to offer a basic overview course in Jyotisha and Karma at cisindus.org. Would love to understand a little more.
If we carry forward samskaras from past life then that is there to deal with - karmas wil be felt no matter what actions we take. “The best laid plans of mice and men often gang awry” So free will is limited to the freedom to act - the result is not always predictable or the desired result.
Thanks a lot to @Rajiv Malhotra & Infinity foundation.
I really hope to learn prashna someday.. It's really fascinating to know that the universe is showing omens and signs that answer each question that you might have at any moment. It's just that we've lost the ability to decipher the signs to understand the answer. Saw some examples readings by Karen White astrology, it was really fascinating..
Beautifully explained 🙏
Thank you for this wonderful interview. Please upload the continuation.
you explain very nicely and logically.
That's why Inner Engineering is a must for every one.
Pranam
Very good explanation..informative
wonderfull
Very nice explanation. Thanks Sir
We await more such episode of Mr Rao please make more sessions
Very good
The entire idea of free-will is bogus. If kayika, vachika manasika karma now is a result of previous karmas (remember our body, our nature etc. which drive present karmas are also from prarabdha karma which is part of sanchita karma), how is there a "free-will"? On the other hand, if "free-will" is not there, why are we held responsible for our karmas?
So what is "free-will"? What is "will" in the first place and what is it free from or how is this "will" independent?
The German philsopher Arthur Schopenhauer has written a beautiful article on "On the Freedom of the Will".
He asks the question "Can you will what you will?" This is an important question that reveals all willing takes place instantly at a point of time without any previous conscious willing of the will.
Even if you answer yes for the first question again another question can be asked. "Can you also will what you will to will?" and thus questions can go ad-infinitum. At some point you have to agree that some will instantly occurred and you do not know how and why? Thus so called free-will is not free at all, i.e. this will is NOT under our conscious control. Thus free-will does NOT exist. Then why are we held responsible for karma? Since this will (from which all kayika, vachika, manasika acts proceed) appears as per our svabhava (intrinsic nature) which is covered by "anadi avidya" we are responsible for karma. One who gets rid of this "anadi avidya" gets rid of karma.
great
... these are just the bricks given by birth we have to work with ... one can choose what to build ... a castle or a bunker 😉
one can undergo shoonya intensive course of ISHA foundation to understand about Praarabdha, Sanchita etc.,
All bodily possessions are a bridge to connect spirit with mortal existence. We are not this body. The chakra of karma and fate is universe's way of intruducing and removing (creating and destroying) everything.
Excerpts from yoga vashista:
In this world, whatever is gained is gained only by self-effort. Failure is because of the slackness in the effort. What is called fate is fictitious, and is not seen.
Self-effort is mental, verbal and physical action which is in accordance with instructions of a holy person who knows scriptures. It is only by such effort that Indra, Brahma and other deities earned their places.
Self-effort is of 2 categories: That of past births and that of this birth. Self-effort of this birth effectively counteracts the former. Fate is none other than self-effort of a past incarnation. There is a constant conflict between these two in this incarnation and that which is more powerful triumphs.
There is no power greater than right action in the present moment. One should strictly follow self-effort even if painful, and one should overcome evil by good and fate by present effort.
What is called fate or divine will is nothing other than the action or self-effort of the past. The present is infinitely more potent than the past. Those were satisfied with the fruits of the past effort and do not put any self-effort are fools.
When someone gets very lucky, this is due to the self-effort of the past birth. If the farmer whose efforts are made fruitless by a Hailstorm, the Hailstorm’s own power was greater than the farmer’s effort and the farmer should put forth greater effort now.
When one became many,free will became limited.
Thanks
Sir, I completely agree that positions of all heavenly bodies is governed by science. However, what is the extent and type of evidence to prove that heavenly bodies influence us. Any type of evidence is fine. Anything other than take it because someone said it in the past. This is not an arrogant question. It is a genuine question in search of an answer.
heavenly bodies ( planets ) INDICATE,SHOW the course of events...There is no evidence of "influence". ( but many believe the planets influence.)
Very well said 👍
Koti koti naman
kp astrology... ( krishnamoorthy pattadi ) His horary principles are very interesting if you come across a good practitioner..
On freewill , people can read Sam harris book on free will..
Saibaba says ( in a book written by one of his disciples ) : You have freewill within a predetermined world...( It took plenty of years for me to come to terms with that concept....)
You can also read Ramesh balsekar on freewill where he says: act as if you have free will while at the same knowing that you do not. "
All that led me to say : your life is predetermined but you will never know the future accurately.. If you attempt to know it , then that attempt becomes part of predetermination leading you back to the position of, you having freewill.
(It is like thomas young's double slit experiment where the light seems to know the future. and changes its nature to go as wave form instead of particle form and vice versa)
question ; do you have free will ?
ans : yes and no !
but then, homams, parigarams, poojas have their own merits.. do them also...
On a practical level, forget astrology and think along these lines: : what problems you have now ? what is it that you want ? how to go about solving them? That is where the action is... that is where the mind needs to be focussed on...Mostly it will lead you to try and act or at times to accept what happens..
useful, thnx
Sai baba was a Muslim btw.and Muslims don’t believe in karama
My question is who will judge KARMA... Do human have right to judge ??
Prarabda karma is what the Soul is born with to exhaust in the given life. Here the soul acts through the mind and senses. While spending your karmas you also create new ones. Here it is not possible to discern the new ones from the prarabda. One can minimise new karmas by acting with " nishkama" that is do your action but leave the result to the God. Never have expectations. This is very tricky. Life is like that.
There is no free will at casual level.
Few question to Mr Rao about Jyotish :1. Does getting any puja done, making a pandit do japa for your graha dosha,
wearing precious stones which has got some mantras done on them affect your karma or its for your mental satisfaction only?
2. If you do not start some thing on auspicious muhurat (or time), why should that matter? That time has nothing to do with your karma, or if some other time negates bad effect of your past karma or increases effect of karma how sound or just is karma it self which is affected by things like this.
3. Do you recommend that Govt of India or US should have fleet of Rajjyotish (like we used to have in India) which will check auspicious time for every major initiative (eg launching of spaceshuttle, surgical strike, launching Arogya setu or HealthcareMarket Place in US etc).
4. Do you agree that Jyotish not a science in the generally accepted definition that: Has evidence based , clearly defined procedures which will give repeatable results under defined conditions + have falsifiable hypothesis).
5. I have heard of this types of karma (which Indian have not) but am not sure which text book talks about it, or which text book has talked about it first. If I can get the name would be great.
Thank you,
Praying to idols is not puja bro.god is omnipresent,even in idols but why just to pray to idols.read the topic ashtang yog.
There is no muhurat,every time in auspicious.perfect example is Muslims and Christians,they don’t have any muhurat yet things go well for them too.
Wearing stones on your fingers doesn’t change anything,you can only change things with karma.
@@sk50131 Thank you for your comment. I wanted input from Mr Rao. though.Would apprecaite if he finds time to reply on any of the video posts that these questions are posted.
Dear Sir, What came first at the time creation of humans - Free Will or Karma? If you say current destiny is the free will of the past, them when first humans came into existence, did they come with free will or destiny?
Hi Rajiv ji namaste please collaborate with chaitanya Charan das of iskcon he has lot of knowledge regarding karma and bhakti
ISKCON is a half baked organization.Goes without saying about its followers.
All freedoms are contextual and limited.
I want to consult Shri PVR NARSHIMHA RAO Jee. How can I consult? Will someone share his official contact details?
As far as I know,he doesn't give consultation.hr asks people to do homam, chanting, donation etc in general.He is more into research in Astrology.visit his website Vedic astrologer.com.he asks everyone to perform mahaganapathi homam to tackle obstacles in life ,do Satyanarayan vrata and gives free video,audio ,texts for them.
💖
whoa - arrows have left the bow of Rudra! so that's what the Rudram is asking?
'Pāsupathi-upanishad' deals with destiny and free will.
Human is equated with Pasu(animal- which follows his masters instructions) because he does what his Budhi(intellect) decides and "Budhi karma anusarina" - his karma decides what his budhi instructs and reap specific karma phala that becomes his destiny!
If individual surrenders to divine (Pasupathi- the real owner), submits his will to divine's wishes, then his deeds get freed from his 'destiny-bound Budhi' and his will becomes 'free-Will'!
As he says, if destiny/ past actions determines the free-will now, how can it be called 'FREE' WILL ?!
What jyotishya helps is to unleash this potential in an individual and not just predicts your destiny
Karma after being born...that's also controlled by our horoscope...free will and choice of karma is a myth...we are playthings in this drama. What you're doing now in this video is also dictated by your planets and not your choice.
imprecise: he says that your horoscope shows restrictions that you face. within those restrictions too, no one can deny that one has free will. Horoscope can certainly decide tendencies regarding the options. But free will is certainly there, which what allows evolution through karma.
Everything is free will ultimately. We control the scenarios in the simulation.
This heading is misleading. Karma an action is done as per duty dharma and it varies on birth karma and response. Free will cannot be included as part of karma action.
Ur understanding of karma is wrong. U seem to understand karma from the perspective of Varna system. But PVR is talking about Karma at the core level. For example irrespective of what your varna is, if u cheat someone in this lifetime, in your next lifetime, somebody else will cheat u.
Free will cannot be included as a part of karma but free will will definitely generate some karma...
Even if you are doing karma as per your Dharma, if it is not nishkaama karma(performing karma without attachment), it will still add to your Sanchita karma..
Vedic astrology is not based on absurdity, it is based on karma and karma is both cause and effect. It is cause in the state of free will and effect in the state of Destiny. He clearly explained the different kinds of Karma. Only Prarabdha Karma is inevitable. If u don't believe in free will, then that makes you a mayavadi.
Can we as children suffer the consequences of our Parents wrong deeds?
TOTAL BS.
Wrong explanation of free will and destiny. They are totally different from each other.
throwing a statement wont help, please add more details on how the explanation is wrong, then we can take the comment seriously
instead of saying wrong please video make as correct information.
What I do not know I do not know. Hence opinion based on invalidated perception would keep one away from facts. Let us remember how Galileo suffered. Socratese had to drink Hemlock
Both destiny and free will are interlinked. Vedic astrology is not based on absurdity. Your destiny in this life is a result of the actions u did in ur past life. And the destiny of tomorrow, will depend in the karmas of previous lives and this life. The karmas of this life activate especially after Saturn returns, that is after 36 and 72 yrs.
Very nice