MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 335

13th October 2025

Thoughts determine the results of actions

We ended the last episode with #BhagavadGita 2.47 and that the Lord does not decide on the results of our work.  Who else decides?

You have the right to work only, but never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction (Bhagavad Gita 2.47)

Perform your duties with commitment, as that is your obligation. Don’t start an assignment thinking about the results of your actions. Do your work for the happiness and satisfaction it brings, rather than for the benefits.  Never worry about the results because that will unshackle you to focus on your job more effectively,

Don’t abstain from your work commitments, as ‘Duties are the obligations for all human beings’.

“You are the master of your FATE, the captain of your SOUL” – Invictus,  William Ernest Henley

As I mentioned in the last episode, there is a common and wrong interpretation of this sloka that ‘GOD determines the fruits of all the actions. Shri Krishna himself negates this view in the sloka 5.14. Here is the clarification, direct from Shri Krishna.

Who awards the results of actions?

.न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभु: | न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते || Bhagavad Gita 5.14||

Neither the sense of doership nor the nature of actions comes from God; nor does He create the fruits of actions. The fruits of actions come from the natural thoughts (swabhava).

Shri Krishna is the Lord of the universe. He is omnipotent and controls the entire universe.  Yet, he declares through the #BhagavadGita that he does not direct our actions, nor does he decide and award the fruits of our actions. He does not direct men to choose the actions they do. If he directs man, why should he direct some in the right path and others in the wrong path? So, it is clear that we are the captain of our soul and no one else.

Thoughts shape actions and the results.

There is no need to hunt for luck, fate, destiny, etc. The Supreme Lord does not influence humans’ decisions and has no involvement in their actions.

Who then controls the actions taken by us and the results of our actions? It is our own swabhava. Our swabhava determines both our actions and their benefits.

The word swabhav in Sanskrit generally means character. It can be taken here to mean thoughts because our thoughts, in turn, shape our character; they lead us to take specific actions, whether good or evil, focused or distracted, effective or ineffective.

Positive thoughts can guide us on the right path towards our destination, leading to the desired results, i.e., success. Negative thoughts will guide us on the wrong path, and the fruits will invariably be failures.

Now, the modified sloka is: You have the right to your work, not the results, as your thoughts determine the results of your actions.

Learn to develop positive, fulfilling thoughts.

When an individual commits himself to evil actions, it is not the real Self that does evil, but the individual’s thoughts. When an individual does good, it is not the real Self that does good, but the thoughts. So, the negative thoughts should be counteracted by positive thoughts, and then one should rise above both good and evil in the realisation of Atma.

The evil in him need not dishearten the seeker. It is his own making, and what he has done, he can undo also. Effort is needed in that direction for self-purification. This struggle is the natural order of life. The Lord has nothing to do with it. Man has to attain purification by his own effort, by purifying his/her thoughts.

Thus, Success or Failure is in your hands and not in the hands of the lord because the thoughts shape the course of action and the results, and the thoughts are in our hands.

Develop POSITIVE THOUGHTS if you DESIRE success.

We are the Masters of our Fate and the Captains of our Souls… because we have the power to control our thoughts and our thoughts have the power to control our destiny. Eliminate negative thoughts and cultivate positive ones.

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There are plenty of positive actions happening around but the coverage on positive news will happen in the next episode.

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Conceived, compiled and posted as a weekly positive newsletter #MondayMusings every monday for the past 335 mondays by Jaganathan T (www.authorjaganathan.com).

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