Question & Answer sessions with HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji – 2015
Nature, destiny, duty, and inborn traits are all different.
Question :
Bhagavad Gita uses the terms behavior, personal duty, and inborn traits. Are they synonyms for destiny? Or, do they all have different meanings?
Answer :
Is destiny the same as inborn nature? No. Bhagavad Gita mentions that one acts as per one’s nature. It also mentions that whether you act willingly or not, you are forced to do certain things.
Destiny is unavoidable experience. Inborn traits relate to knowledge. Behavior relates to virtue. The three are different although they may appear similar. Traits may be modified in this present life.
Destiny earns us this body. While life remains, what has been earned must be experienced, either good or bad. It is very wrong to attempt to end life prematurely.
A Self-realized soul retaining a body has a hint of ignorance left, just enough to sustain the body until his destiny is fulfilled. It is not ignorance per se. He is liberated and free of body once the body drops off. Unless a Self-realized soul retains the body and remains as Sadguru, who else will show us the path to Liberation? If all liberated souls discard their bodies, there will be no spiritual guides. Out of love, kindness, and compassion, Sadguru remains in the body, enduring the residue of Praarabdha for our sake. We must recognize and acknowledge that.
Behavior, inborn traits, and destiny are all different. One’s nature and personal duty may appear similar but they are different. Qualities and aptitudes determine one’s duties. Elders tell us that one’s bounden duties must be performed.
Jaya Guru Datta