36. Vahi Arjuna Vahi Baan

 

‘Vahi Arjuna Vahi Baan’ (Same Arjuna Same Arrow), is often used to describe a situation when a successful or competent person fails to perform.

Arjuna, as a warrior, never lost a war. During the latter part of his life, he lost a small battle in which he was supposed to save some family members from a group of bandits. He explains this situation to his brother and says: “I don’t know what happened. I’m the same Arjuna and these are the same arrows that had won the Kurukshetra war. But this time my arrows could neither find their target nor had the power.” He explained that he had to run away and couldn’t protect the family.

Life’s experiences tell us that this can happen to any of us. At times, talented sportspersons temporarily lose their form; an actor or a singer may suddenly fail. This is often attributed to bad luck or a bad phase, though no one can say with certainty why it happens. There is hardly any scientific explanation for the same except for conjectures and surmises.

In this context, while explaining the relationship between karma and karma-phal, Krishna says that ‘daivam’ (contribution or will or blessings of Lord) is one of the factors that contributes to the fulfillment of karma (18.14). ‘Daivam’ is a kind of ‘X’ factor and is unknown from a manifested (physical) world point of view. That’s the reason why Krishna says that you have right over karma but not over karma-phal.

Techniques such as palmistry, astrology, and sun signs are often practiced and may be seen as glimpses of daivam, but none of them truly represent daivam. Similarly, there is no scientific theory by which daivam can be predicted.

Krishna says that we are just a nimitta-maatra - a small cog in the grand design of Almighty (11.33). The state of nimitta-maatra arises when success does not inflate ahankaar and failure does not hurt us, with the understanding that daivam plays a role in both.