Where is My Free Will?
Every day we make decisions. Does one’s free will has a role on the decision that he/she makes? Once while walking with a Sanskrit Pandit, a discussion ensued on free will. The Pandit enquired if selecting the left leg or the right leg first while taking a step is an act of free will. It is our experience that sometime we are forced to take some actions against our so called will (e.g. a student preparing for his exam; a leader facing the wrath of his followers).
What is the meaning of this free-will? According to societal convention, it appears that a powerful person will be able to actualize his free will while a less privileged person in the society has less ability to actualize his/her free will. As per this convention, some have free will while others do not have. In another convention, what all I desire are expressions of my free will. Some are fulfilled while most of them remain unfulfilled.
However, here is the contradiction. Something that is free — svatantra — cannot be subservient to any other extraneous situations. If something that is my free will that must be independent and must prevail in all situations. We will look at this concept of free-will using Bhagavad Gita philosophy.
In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna declares Himself as God. He is the source of both material and spiritual worlds.
I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts. BG 10.8
About His free will, Lord Krishna says:
The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end. BG 9.8
Being God alone, His will is supreme. He alone pervades the entire creation and sustains and maintains it. It is by His will, the Sun provides light, Indra sends forth rain, and the wind blows.
The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time. Brahma Samhita 5.52
As every manifestations and events are simply expressions of Lord Krishna’s free will, where is the free will of jiva? Jiva is atomic and is conditioned by illusory energy of Krishna from time immemorial. The state of jiva is aptly described in BG 3.27:
The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature. BG 3.27
Ram’s decision to opt for Pizza and Gopal’s decision to fast are simply manifestations of three modes of material nature. These decisions are born out of material modes although the conditioned jiva proclaims that he is the doer. In effect, the jiva is swayed by the force of material energy so much that he just credits himself for all the successes come in his ways, and mostly discredit others and other situational constraints for his failures.
As all actions are done by modes of material nature, is there any role for the jiva? Does he have a free will? Ontologically, jiva is miniscule while Lord is infinite. As jiva is a part and parcel of Krishna, he possesses Krishna’s potency to a very minute degree. Obviously, jiva has free-will. What is that free will? Lord Krishna answers this question as:
Therefore get up. Prepare to fight and win glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you, O Savyasācī, can be but an instrument in the fight. BG 11.33
Here Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to become His mere instrument. In effect, He does everything, while He credits to those jiva who accept the role of mere instruments. Arjuna’s initial decision not to fight was born out of modes of material nature. Later Arjun fought the battle as per the will of the Lord and hence used his free-will effectively. When we align our free-will with that of the Lord, then there is no question of failure. The meaning of ‘free’- svatantra — is retained here as the free-will also attain the status of Absolute as being subservient to the Absolute free-will of the Lord. Thus in my free-will, I am blessed to understand Lord’s free will and am further blessed to act as a mere instrument to give shape to the Lord’s will.
Under illusion you are now declining to act according to My direction. But, compelled by the work born of your own nature, you will act all the same, O son of Kunti. BG 18.60
Arjuna is an associate of Lord Krishna and thus he is able to naturally act according to Lord’s FREE WILL. As a friend, he is in best situation to know Lord’s free will. What’s about us mere mortals? How can we effectively know Lord’s FREE WILL? We are being helplessly used by modes of material nature as puppet although some time we roar like a lion, at some other time we behave like a king, yet at some other time we act as victims. In such situations, How can I execute my free will?
Free will is a pure state. In a conditioned state, all my desires are perverted reflections of that pure state — my tiny free will. That free will becomes self-evident to me when I am blessed by sadhu, guru and sastra. It is by my fortunate contact with devotees of Lord, I come to learn about Krishna’s will. It is by the mercy of Sri Guru I learn the mission of my Lord. I become fortunate to be educated in the science of devotional service, the natural occupation of a jiva. It is the determined and enthusiastic engagements in Lord’s devotional service, I start seeing that it is Krishna who alone acts. I become cognizant that it is in my best interest that I accept the will of the Lord and surrender to His mission. It is the power of devotion that burns all impurities in my consciousness into ashes. In my transcendental senses, I gradually feel all pervading presence of my Lord, more so, I see Him as my guide, friend, master as well as beloved.
As a practicing devotee, sometime I like to have a pizza while at other times I like to have pakoras. Sometimes I remain as brahmacari while at other times I act as householder. Sometimes I earn money while at other time I engage myself in building a temple. In all such acts, mostly my bodily modes have played key roles, although there may be keen desire to please Sri Guru and Krishna. But there is an easy way out — if I simply follow instructions of a pure devotee, in that following my free will is manifesting transcending my modes.
Because a person who has been covered by ignorance since time immemorial is not capable of effecting his own self-realization, there must be some other personality who is in factual knowledge of the Absolute Truth and can impart this knowledge to him. SB 11.22.10
Here then, is the bottom line. The war of Mahabharat having run its course in seventeen and half days, Duryodhana and his brothers have been killed, and so also the great grandsire Bhishma and guru Dronacharya. Draupadi is spending some intimate time with her five young sons in the evening of last day of the battle. The young boys are disturbed on seeing the ghastly results of the epic war. The mother is consoling the boys, stating that this is “dharma-yudha”, and everything is happening according to Lord Krishna’s will. She further states that one must surrender to the will of the Lord. As the affectionate mother opens her heart that only survives for Krishna’s pleasure, the young boys are enthralled by the innocence of their mother’s devotion. Their bitter feelings are cooled down by the love-filled ambrosia radiating from Draupadi’s face. As the boys persist with the request to be with their mother, the mother urges them to allow her to be with their fathers, who must be very tired from the gruelling war, and must be needing her care. With the promise that the she will be there next morning to wake them up, Druapadi leaves them to take care of her husbands. The rest, as they say, is history, as the five boys are slaughtered in their sleep before sunrise. A grieving Draupadi can only shed tears silently, while accepting Lord Krishna’s prerogative to have her sons disappear from His leela. She is not going to question why does Lord Krishna protect Maharaja Pariksit in mother Uttara’s womb while her sons are allowed to be killed. Lord Krishna selects His instrument as per His sweet will. This is the way of great devotees who always accept the Lord’s will as supreme.
Thus my free-will remains in my persistent endeavour in understanding the mission of Sri Guru and Krishna. In my free will, I continue to adhere to sadhu, guru and Sastra. In my free will, I serve the devotees. In my free will, I engage myself in preaching the divine message of Bhagavad Gita. In my free will, I perceive Krishna’s free-will as Absolute. In my free will, I learn to depend on Krishna’s mercy.
Arjuna said: My dear Krishna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions. BG 18.73
In essence, in my free will I see that Lord Krishna is the ONLY transcendental autocrat. I am His mere instrument. If I fail to cognize this fact, I remain puppet to His maya-shakti.
Footnotes:
Why Should I study Bhagavad Gita?
Learn Bhagavad Gita systematically and Scientifically- https://learngitalivegita.com/
