I think it is very important to understand what the terms destiny, karma and renunciation actually means because they have varied connotations and it is possible that each of us interpret it in our own way!
Destiny (fate): The most common meanings of destiny are:
- The events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future.
2. The hidden power believed to control future events; fate.
How nice it will be if we are able to control our destiny!
Is it actually possible to control our destiny?
We will see…
Karma (action): The most common meanings of karma are:
- Action, work or deed.
2. The principle of cause and effect – actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect).
Renunciation (surrender): The most common meanings of renunciation are:
- Abandonment of pursuit of material comforts.
2. Performing one’s assigned tasks with a detached mind, dedicating all actions to the supreme lord.
Going by the three definitions, the answer to the above question is clear!
We will be able to control our destiny overcoming our karma (law of cause and effect) only through renunciation by surrendering all our activities to the supreme self without expectation of any reward!
This is because the reward is there in our sincere efforts itself!
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Spirituality is the only way to solace 
“Nobody is realizing that the paramatman or super soul residing beside the individual soul in our heart needs to be pleased for any real benefit.” Do we really need to please parmatma? I’m of the opinion that realizing it by removing the veil of ignorance gives us the real benefit. I guess that is what you meant. Would love to know your thoughts on this one.
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This is really a thought-provoking question. Thank you very much for putting it forward.
We here refers to the individual soul since the body is dead matter made of five material elements viz., ether, air, fire, water and earth.
The individual soul definitely need to please the Supreme soul or Paramatma to obtain His divine mercy in order to escape from the cycle of birth and death.
The individual soul is qualitatively one with Supreme Soul in the sense that both are spiritual particles and that the individual soul emanated from the supreme soul but quantitatively there is a great difference. The individual soul can be all-pervading in only his own physical body while Supreme soul is all-pervading in all space and at all times.
The individual soul’s tendency is to dominate the material nature using the physical body provided to it through the inputs given by the five knowledge acquiring senses also called as sense organs viz., the organs of sight(eyes), smell(nose), taste(tongue), touch(skin) and sound(ears) under the control of the three subtle senses – mind, intelligence and false ego (often called as contaminated consciousness that gives a sense of “I”ness for identifying the individual soul with the body and the relationships that are arising from it thereof) to performs actions through the five organs of action viz., the organs of speech(tongue again), locomotion(legs), performing tasks(hands), procreation(genitals) and excretion(anus).
Out of 8,640,000 species as described in Padma Purana only the human species has been endowed with the capability to inquire regarding the absolute truth and achieve self-realization because of the highly developed faculty of the subtle senses.
The individual soul is given a very minute independence by the Supreme Soul to choose its course of action – whether to direct inwards towards the Supreme Soul to listen to its instruction or be influenced by the subtle senses that acts according to the gross senses and organs of action to direct towards the external world and follow the materialistic way of life.
The story of King Puranjana from Srimad Bhagavatham Canto 4 Chapters 25 to 29 (https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/4/25/ to https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/4/29/) gives an extensive instruction on the process of self-realization. It is very much worth reading it again and again.
When the individual soul acts under the control of the subtle senses it loses its individual identity and is devoid of real knowledge. Thus it remains in a perpetual cycle of birth and death in this material world. However when it controls the subtle senses by the process of self-realization, the individual soul no longer is bound by the spell of Maya or illusion or Samsara. Then all the actions performed by the organs of action will no longer result in accumulation of karma for all the actions are directed inwards towards the satisfaction of the Supreme Soul alone.
Thus removing the veil of ignorance through knowledge is just not enough. Only by surrendering to the Paramatma Shri Krishna consciously and beg for His Mercy that we will not be able to overcome the Maya of Samsara. By doing this, the Paramatma will gradually lighten up the individual soul and guiding it to do the allocated duties dispassionately and live a life of detached detachment thereby leading to self-realization.
By surrendering to Him completely not only does He absolve us of all our past karma but ensures that no further karma will be accumulated in future. Thus a place in His abode is guaranteed!
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.”
This is the final instruction and the most confidential secret as declared by Lord Shri Krishna to Arjuna.
Further discussions and queries are most welcome.
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Wonderful !!!
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Feel satisfied of reading a combo of thirukkural, bhagavatham n Gita. Still, wots the purpose of life?
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The experience is the life!
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Real purpose as per my understanding is knowing yourself i.e. Why are you here? What should be your goals in this life which starts and ends in shunya? etc etc.
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Dear Ashansu – The present birth or present life does not start with Shunya nor it becmes Shunya at the end of this life.
The present birth is the result of the accumulated karma of the soul from all our previous births.The goal in this life is to exhaust all our karma so that at the end of it there is no balance karma left! Only in that stage is liberation attained.
Opening of a bank account and further transactions on the account can be taken as an analogy.
When anyone opens a bank account there is a mandatory amount that is deposited and that has to be maintained as minimum balance as long as the account is active.
We start all our transactions from this point with credits and debits of various denominations happening all the time. The next debit transaction is determined on the basis of all the previous transactions in order to maintain the minimum balance. By attaining the minimum balance the account is still active and hence liberation is not attained.
Similarly by continuously maintaining high credit also it is not possible to attain liberation though one may proceed towards higher planetary systems in the material universe.
When we want to close the account we debit the entire balance amount that includes the minimum balance so that the net balance becomes shunya or zero. Once this happens we disassociate from the bank!
Let’s see what we can infer from this analogy to life.
Bank: Material world and the field of material activity
Bank Account (association with the bank): The gross body and Subtle senses that is required to transact in the material world.
Owner of the Bank Account:life or jiva or soul
Minimum Balance – three modes of material nature that binds the soul to the material world.
Opening of Bank account: Soul acquiring a material body.to enjoy the fruits of the material world.
Credit Transaction- Happiness due to positive karma that brings enjoyment to the material body and increases bondage.
Debit Transaction – Distress when positive karma is getting exhausted
Desire to close the account – Desire to attain Self-realization by transcending the three modes of material nature.
Account Closing – Process of relinquishing the gross and subtle bodies.
Zero Balance – Liberation from material world and eternal residence in the realms of Vaikuntha where this is no birth, death, old age or disease.
I hope this answers your question.
Please let me know if you have any queries.
Rajini
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Live according to the ideals of these scriptures, of course!
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