Mahabharat Episode 66: Grace and Luck – Where to Draw the Line
“Yoga means to yoke yourself with creation in such a way that you function in a brilliant manner, not out of your intellect but out of sheer intelligence.”
—Sadhguru
Questioner: Namaskaram Sadhguru, you said that for a person to be successful, these four factors must be there: skill, intelligence, grace, and luck. Isn’t luck a byproduct of grace? Are intelligence and intellect the same?
Who Represents the Pandavas’ Grace and Luck?
Sadhguru: For the Pandavas, Krishna is their grace, and Draupadi is their luck. There is a beautiful example in the Mahabharat: Drupada, Draupadi’s father, wanted Krishna to take Draupadi as his wife, but, in a way, Krishna gives Draupadi to the Pandavas. Krishna could have married this stunningly beautiful woman, and that would have made him an immensely powerful king. Panchala and Dwaraka put together would have been a phenomenal force. But he decides otherwise. So, when Krishna gives Draupadi to the Pandavas, it is his grace and their luck.
Karma Is Not What You Think It Is
Under the influence of grace, you will not walk unconcerned. If you walk through life unconcerned, you are headed for disaster. Every step you take in life, you will step on something and cause suffering. If you believe you can benefit by causing suffering to someone else, it will only be a temporary benefit. You will pay for it in ways that you will not understand or be able to bear. No one can escape this. Karma is not a concept of crime and punishment, that if you commit a crime, someone punishes you. Karma is a consequence of your own action. If you throw a stone up, gravity is not trying to hit you with a stone – it is your stone which comes back and knocks you on your head. That is karma.
People always think, “If I do this karma, someone will punish me.” No one needs to punish you – that is the beauty of it. If you live without knowing the consequence of your action – which comes from a lack of intelligence and too much intellect – your growth will not happen homogeneously in rapport with existence. That kind of growth is dangerous; you will pay a heavy price for it. Unfortunately, the whole world is tending to go this way.
But if you are under the influence of grace, we do not have to teach you how to walk. There will be no need for pretense – you will walk with a certain gentleness. There will be a certain concern in what you do. And there will be a natural intelligence within you to wait for the right alignment of things in your life; you will not force it. Luck will naturally happen.
Why Intellect Is Not Intelligence
Are grace and luck separate things? They are not. In fact, all three, including intelligence, are not separate things. If you have no intelligence, grace will not come your way. Grace does not need intellect; it does not need a PhD, but it needs intelligence. Intelligence means you are in tune with existence. A farmer who is plowing the field, who has never been to school, cannot understand all the rubbish we are talking about. Still, he may be far more intelligent than you are, because he is more in tune with existence. Let’s say tomorrow, there is a flood and all your structures and conveniences disappear. In such a situation, the illiterate farmer will survive way better than you. With all your gadgets, you will make him look like a fool. But if the two of you are left out in the forest, he will survive; you will be terrified and die of starvation.
Intelligence is not thinking up something – intelligence means you have yoked yourself and are in tune with creation. This is what dhyana or meditation means; this is what Yoga means. Yoga means to yoke yourself with creation in such a way that you function in a brilliant manner, not out of your intellect but out of sheer intelligence. And that intelligence is not yours – that is the intelligence of the creation and the Creator.
To be continued...
Editor's Note:This article first appeared in the January 2021 issue of Isha Forest Flower. Click here to explore the all-new Isha Forest Flower!
