All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Karma and its result are interdependent. Upon labouring through the day, one will earn one's wages at the end of the day. Upon depositing the savings in the bank, one is sure to earn interest on it. Businessmen run their shops and earn their living. Farmer sows the seeds and happily reaps the crop. The studious become scholars. Those who go to the gym regularly, become strong. Artists practise and become proficient in their skills. That karma (action, deed) committed in a state of mental yields fruit is obvious. Intake of bad food will give rise to stomach-ache. Those who commit suicide would die. Those who adopt spartan and orderly life-styles become healthy, strong and attain longevity. Those with soft-spoken, humble and gentlemanly behaviour make many friends whereas angry, rigid and ill-mannered make others cynical and antagonistic towards them. It is all a result of one's karma. There may be delay in getting the results of one's karma but there will never be injustice.

Karma of today becomes fate tomorrow. What is milk today will be curd tomorrow. Its name and form may change but it is not possible to get curd without milk. It is only our good or bad karma today that brings good or bad result sometimes in future. We must accept the fact that as we sow, so shall we reap.

Sometimes the results do not show up immediately but after a delay. Because of this some restless people lose their patience and start doubting whether they will see the results of what they have done. This kind of distrust is philosophical atheism. The purpose of believing in God and worshipping Him is to establish the faith that God is omnipresent, omniscient and righteous. No karma escapes His notice. Over time, He gives the fruits according to one's karma sometime or the other. Those fruits may be in the form of bodily or worldly benefits or losses, or, spiritual development and happiness, etc. Sooner or later bad karma will always conclude in misery in some way.

Farmer sows the seeds. It takes months before he can reap the crop. Gardener plants tree in the garden. It takes years for those trees to grow. Trees like Banyan and Peepal take really long to grow. But, no farmer and no gardener grows impatient or loses faith. Because of the delay, none of them leave their job or get disappointed.

Ignoring the established principle, some mindless people adopt the strange principle of fatalism. They believe that God writes one's fate at His own whims and fancies. Because of this belief the faith in the natural “Law of Karma” begins to wane. If God writes one’s fate at His own free will then why does one need to analyse his own actions?

If fatalism is indeed the right principle then all the credit and blemish must be attributed to God. Who needs to do anything? Who will earn the fruits? If God schedules everything then He alone is responsible for giving happiness or credit to some and pain or disrepute to others. Man then remains a puppet in His hands. For a puppet show, the basic skill is that of the puppeteer and all the credit and rewards are given to him. Puppet itself is just the means. It is only meant for the show. All the benefits go to the puppeteer. Guns and swords are only the means to kill but the punishment for the murder is awarded to the man who operates them. Gun is lifeless, when is it ever hanged for the misdeed? If God lays out everything then on that basis the responsibility all the acts lies with Him, who defined everything. In such a situation, no man can be held a sinner or saint. He commits the act only because he was helpless against his destiny. This way no one can be impeached nor can anyone earn credit for his act. Then there is no justification for praise or condemnation of anyone and so why should anyone be punished or rewarded either? More so, why would one need to do anything, even the daily chores, at all?

Thus, there is no logic behind the belief that God defines destiny, as per His will. At most what can be regarded is that there is some invisible power that maintains the law of karma or that defines the results for one's past karma on the basis of certain rules. If this is true then man is the master of his own destiny. It is a different thing that some plants fruit faster than others based on the laws of nature. Similarly some karma may result in consequent effects earlier while some may take even a lifetime. In any case the doer is principally responsible. It is his own (physical or mental) deeds that prosper with time. Therefore, there should be no attempts to bring God in the picture and belittle or neglect what is our creation.

Misconceptions About Astrology:

Astrology in ancient India was developed as a science to understand celestial movements and to analyse and predict major events like solar spots, eclipses, meteorites, magnetic storms, etc.  It even helped the experts in calculation of time, formation of calendar, and prediction of weather, etc. However, in the later ages due to loss of many original texts and misinterpretations by some scholars some irrational implications and practices became popular in the Indian society.   

The principle of putting the responsibility of sorrows and pleasures on the position of stars and constellations is even more bizarre. All the planets and satellites of the solar system are far away from earth. Besides, they are not any living beings. Like inert objects they simply maintain their existence. Like our earth, they simply move around in their orbits and on their axis as per the laws of nature. This is their method and system on the basis of which they conduct their activities. Only their light and some magnetic and subtle effect is all that reaches the earth. In such a situation, how is it possible that they would pick individuals out of the five billion odd humans on the earth and present good or bad effects on them separately? Keeping track to this extent is not possible for even an extremely intelligent man. Then how is it possible for the planets in the sky to trace out each man and afflict fear or shower some boons upon him?

Many children are born in this world every moment. Their horoscopes must be identical. In that case, the destiny and future of every child who is born at the same instant should also be identical! But, where does one see it happening? Children born in different parts of the globe, in prosperous families, or in tribal areas live their own different lives. So, there seems to be no logic behind the belief that celestial congregation of certain starts at the time of one’s birth forms one’s destiny.

It is even more bizarre to expect that after performing some rituals, the same stars and constellations will stop being unlucky and instead start being favourable to the person who performed the rituals. This sounds similar to the practice of bribery and flattery that is prevalent amongst the corrupt set of people. Leaving the right methods aside, this bag of tricks is adopted by this corrupt set of people for getting the wrong things done.


If God also starts adopting such tricks then who would believe in His divinity? Then, isn't He too adopting the manners and policies of those disdainful people. Those who can afford the expense of the rituals will be able to extract the benefit. Those who are poor and incapable will not be able to perform the rituals and will continue to suffer the wrath of the stars! In this situation, instead of considering God as proponent of justice, He would be seated in the party of corrupts. It is even more a shame on those who use these rituals as an excuse to grab money and taint the image of the very God, the praises of whose power and ability they sing. After all God must remain just and persistent in his decisions. If He starts changing his systems and methods at the temptation of mere rituals then who would believe in His absolute greatness?

In reality there is nothing of that kind. God, stars and constellations are all busy doing their own work. They do not have time to choose out of crores of men to torture some and shower gifts on others. Earlier there may have been people who might be believing them to be alive and imposing allegations of topsy turvy mismanagement on them but this is the age of science. The positions of all planets and satellites in the solar system have been nailed down. Now there should be no question of believing that the stars and constellations pick individuals and affect them arbitrarily or that they determine the destiny and future of individuals.

If stars were to affect the earth then their influence would have been on a large part of the earth. Those living in that part of the earth would have all been affected alike. There seems to be no basis for such fantasies or beliefs that the stars would have attachment with or nurture malice against specific individuals.

Off and on some boys and girls are categorized as mangali in the Hindu families.  These children have mangal (the planet Mars) in one of the brackets of their horoscope. It is believed that spouses of these children will die early. If girl is mangali, then she will have to become a widow and if the boy is mangali then he would have to suffer the loss of his wife. So, the remedy found is to marry such mangali boys and girls only to each other.

The literal meaning of the word “Mangal” is welfare. So it should mean that shere it resides, this ‘starr’ it will only bring welfare but what kind of mangal is it that eliminates people wherever it resides? If it resides on husband's half of the girl's horoscope it seems to be eliminating her husband and if it resides on the wife's half of the boy's horoscope then it seems to eliminate his wife. What can be the reason behind this? Even after deep inspection, there doesn't seem to be any rational basis or reason for this. Even a snake would not bite unless it is provoked. Then it is beyond comprehension why mangal would bring misfortune without any provocation.

Many competent boys and girls are deprived of a good partner because of this conviction of their parents or grand parents. Mangali girls fail to find a mangali boy and vice versa. Years go by in the search for such a match and having crossed the marriageable age, many have to remain bachelors all their life. Absurd delusions regarding the effects of stars and constellations are reason behind this misery. Mangal (Mars) is so far away from Earth. How can it rush over to the earth to become a hindrance in someone's marriage? What can this be called except misplaced notions and fantasies?

Reasons like dowry, casteism etc already make it difficult to find the right partners. When finding a proper match of horoscopes is added on top of this, it makes matters even more difficult. There are many religious creeds in the world but nowhere are the horoscopes prepared and nowhere does anyone feel the need for matching horoscopes at the time of marriage. There is only a small section in the Indian Hindus that believes in matching horoscopes before getting the boys and girls married. Even within the Hindu society, more than half of the population today does not see any need for this matching of horoscopes and freely goes about finding the right match for boys and girls. They are not trapped in any hesitations nor do they suffer upon ignoring the horoscopes. It is the folly of some wise that allows such futile thoughts to be nurtured and cause inconveniences.