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Aptavani-8
so that if you were actually doing it today, you could still make some changes to it. Do you not find that you cannot make any changes? Do you not come across that? Planning in the Past Life; Effect in This Life
Questioner: So is there such a thing as fate (kismat)?
Dadashri: That which is fate (kismat), is effect (prarabdha); the stock brought from the previous life, that is being used (unfolding) today.
Questioner: So if we committed any bad deeds (paap), in the last life, would we face its consequences in this life, or would we have already dealt with it in the past life?
Dadashri: No. The results of transgressions (paap) done in the past life are rendered in this life only. It is that the transgressions you did in the last life; occurred as a plan. If you had to build a dam on the Narmada River, what would happen first? Would they not draw out a plan first? That is how they (karmas) happen first, as a plan (cause), and then now, they materialize (effect) in this life. They do the planning for the dam, then it is mapped out on paper, and if at the time, the map tears at the spot where the dam is, would the water come gushing out? No, it would not. So you will be able to make changes on the map, but you would not be able to do that later on. You could have made changes during the planning stage in your past life, but how can you make any changes to it now? Therefore, any changes that you make now, will be changes for the next life. If not, then in the next life, the stamp will be given and sealed according to destiny (vidhata) and it cannot be turned around.
Questioner: If the planning is done in the past life, then when will I do the planning in this life?
Dadashri: The internal planning goes on in each and every birth, and without the planning nothing can progress.