WHAT IS DESTINY AND CAN FREE WILL CHANGE IT?

When we're born, we bring forward our unaccomplished karmic debt from our previous lives and are expected to clear those debts within this life time. We're born at the most opportune time to achieve our earthly goals – i.e. our destiny is already mapped out for us.

  

Astrologers believed that the planetary configurations at the time of one’s birth shaped one’s future, earthly struggles and achievements. This approach to what the stars foretold led to fatalism until wiser men developed the philosophy of free will and stressed “The wise man rules his stars and hence his destiny” . There is however another camp of thought that mischievously insists that “Man often meets his destiny by the road he has taken to avoid it”.

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In Karmic law catastrophes and seemingly unjust conditions of life are not results of chance or the whim of the Gods, but stem from the implacable cosmic conditions – i.e. represented by karmic past, present and future. Rahu and Ketu are extremely important in a Natal Chart. Ketu represents the karmic debt brought forward and Rahu represents how this is likely to be fulfilled.

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Vedic Astrology takes the view that if a person leads their life morally and righteously, their past karmic debts will get paid off and new karmic credits will build up in this life and future lives. This can only be achieved by the free will of the person concerned and hence falls in line with the statement that one can rule their destiny.