Overcoming destiny by subsiding in the heart

Question: In ‘Karthuragnaya prapyathe phalam’ [‘actions bear fruit by the ordinance of God’, first verse of Upadesa Saram] who is the karta [God, or the supreme doer]?

Bhagavan: Karta is Ishwara. He is the one who distributes the fruits of actions to each person according to his karma. That means He is saguna Brahman [manifest Brahman]. The real Brahman is nirguna [attributeless] and without motion. It is only saguna Brahman that is named as Ishwara. He gives the phala [fruits] to each person according to his karma [actions]. That means that Ishwara is only an agent. He gives wages according to the labour done. That is all. Without that sakti [power] of Ishwara, this karma [action] will not take place. That is why karma is said to be jadam [inert].
(Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 11th August, 1946)

698. Prarabdha, like a whirlwind, relentlessly agitates and spins the mind that has shrunk through the ‘I am the body’ idea. However, it cannot stir, even slightly, the limitation-free mind that shines as the extremely clear space of being-consciousness when that ego-impurity [the ‘I am the body’ idea] is destroyed by self-enquiry.

300. It is impossible for the jiva who has become a victim of ego-delusion to overcome even slightly the force of prarabdha. Therefore, unless he subsides in the Heart by relying primarily on God’s grace, he can never, by mere effort, which is the activity of the rising ego, overcome the buffeting momentum of that prarabdha, subside by himself [in the Heart], attain Self-realization and be freed from fear-causing delusion.

(Guru Vachaka Kovai)

Courtesy: Ramana Hridayam