"Effort, initiative, courage, intelligence, resourcefulness and perseverance - where these six qualities exist, there the Lord will always be helpful."

To accomplish something, you need not merely effort but well-directed effort, udyaman. Then, you need entrepreneurship, sahasam; courage dhairyam, which is sustained enthusiasm; intelligence buddhih; resourcefulness saktih, in the form of manpower, money power, raw materials and infrastructure; and then prakramah, perseverance which includes ability to face failures. Though there will be other competitors in the game, when you follow the rules of the game and win, then it is called parakramah. But even when you have every one of these six qualities, still there will be some unknown factor which can cause a problem. There could be a slip between the cup and the lips. Any number of things can happen. You may get exactly what you expected, less than what you expected, more than you expected, or something quite different.

People generally do accept this concept, but they do not completely understand it. Someone might say, "I was driving, and for no reason at all I had a flat tyre. Then God helped me by sending someone, who stopped and changed the tyre for me. God's grace is great." But, then, the question is, "Why did He give you the flat tyre in the first place?" The person thinks that the flat tyre was given by some bad luck, or the Devil. Actually everything is earned by you; it is karmaphala according to the order, and it comes from Isvara, the Lord, who is the order itself.

Therefore, in the Vedic culture, Isvara is taken as a partner in all of our undertakings. This culture is alive even today. We always take into account that unknown factor, called daivam. By one's own effort one has to invoke that daivam. I would tell the Lord, "If there is any impediment, please remove it". I may have all the six ingredients for success but still there could be something that makes the difference between success and failure. By my prayer, I invoke daivam, to take care of the unknown element.

Prayer is a deliberate action
A cow gathers no punya for giving milk to its master, nor papa for kicking him. This is because it has no free will as humans do. However, for a human being, the free will must accompany a deliberate action to accumulate punya-pap. Thus, while we enjoy our free will, we find there is a lot of pressure involved. It is like when you give some money to your brother-in-law to start a business, you are definitely reaching out. But by this action, you also want some peace at home or you want to win that person. This is an act of charity, under pressure. If your eyes are on punya, then you take it is an investment. Thus, very few of your actions are totally free. In any reaching out action, there can be psychological pressure, circumstantial pressure, value commitment, and so on.

On the other hand, a prayer is the only action you can undertake where your freedom is total and complete. Prayer is a deliberate action on your part, and therefore, it is karma, subject to punya-papa. Prayer is a means for invoking the seventh factor, the grace, daivam. There can always be many hidden variables, which I cannot control at all. All I can do is pray, out of my own volition. When you invoke Isvara through some ritual with certain awareness, something happens to you because it is a deliberate action on your part. Lord can be invoked in any form.

Action is the final expression of a human being. If you want to give your best wishes to your close friend for his birthday, what could you do? After all, the wish belongs to the heart. In your heart you can just wish. That should be enough. Why should you send a birthday card or a bouquet of flowers or a gift? The reason is, that act makes the wish real, it gives it a form. When I congratulate you for your achievement, it is a form. Even talking is a form. We have associated words with certain meanings through a common understanding. The script is a form. You can go on and on. Every form is reducible to other forms. Finally, the truth is formless, into which all names and forms resolve. And that is the Lord.

In any religion, you have to some form, either a symbol or an action, in order to pray. In the Vedic vision, however, the whole world, which is full of forms, is Isvara, the Lord. Therefore involving the Lord in any form is recognising Him to be everything. that I can invoke the Lord in any form is a privilege granted by our scriptures through the understanding of Isvara. These forms, given by our ancient books as words or actions to invoke the Lord, are a blessing for our psyche throughout our childhood and adult life. I can place a flower at an altar or do an elaborate ritual of puja. This is a means to invoke the seventh factor. Just saying `Help yourself' is not enough. Seek help from Isvara. You can invoke the Lord to cause a change through your attitude or your value-structure.

Managing your desires
Many modern sadhus, religious leaders, teach: "All the problems in life are due to desires. If there are no desires, there will be no misery. There, remove all your desires and you will be happy." And some of them also advise, "Don't expect results of your actions." But then, why should you do any action? Not even a fool would act - "mandopi na pravartate" - without expecting any result. No one would perform any action without an end in view, a desire, or an expectation. The desire is always for the result, not for the action, per se. Teaching "Perform actions but don't expect results" creates a complex in people. Even Krsna did not perform any action without expecting a result. When he played his flute, he expected at least some sound, some notes, if not some audience.

Lord Krsna says in Bhagavad Gita that having desires is a blessing. "One is endowed with the faith to engage in worshipping (seeking) whatever objects he/she desires, and he/she gains those desired objects because they are ordained by Me alone."
As a creator, Isvara has jnanasakti (power to know), icchasakti (power to will) and kriyasakti (power to act). Unlike animals, human beings are not totally programmed. Therefore, these saktis are also reflected in the human beings and are active at all times. Imagining, knowing or planning is jnanasakti by which I am able to know and understand something. Similarly, icchasakti is the reason I am able to desire. In every desire, Isvara is manifest. Thus, removal of desires is neither possible nor necessary. That I desire is not a problem. This desire becomes a problem when you come under its spell. Therefore, Lord Krsna says, 'tayoh na vasam agacchet tau hi asya paripanthinau", meaning, `do not come under their spell, they are inimical for you'. If these desires become the masters, and you are under their spell, then you are no more the free person that you were. Fulfilment of desires implies another manifestation of Isvara, namely, kriyasakti. It manifests in terms of activity. Managing, not necessarily fulfilling, your desires is success. Therefore, everybody can be successful. This is otherwise called antahkaranasuddhi, freedom from one's own likes and dislikes, raga-devasa. Raga is wanting to acquire and retain, devasa is wanting to avoid and get rid of. If they managing me, I am a failure. I cannot fulfill all of them. If I am under their spell, then in my own estimation, I would be a failure. And there is nothing more tragic than to have a low Self-opinion.

Prayer is karma-yoga
To convert a desire into a luxury, Lord Krsna gives a clean plan under the title of karma-yoga. Karma-yoga is not something secular. Without bringing Isvara into the picture, there is no karma-yoga at all. So when I pray, I invoke the grace of Isvara. The graceful acceptance of what I get is possible when I have that Isvara-awareness in day-to-day life. It is not a philosophy, it allows you to address your failures and enjoy successess; it is your bread-and-butter. It makes you a real person, one who has the vision, the wisdom of things that are to be known. You know exactly what is to be done.

To act or not to act in my prerogative. I have a choice over my action, `karmanyeva adhikaraste'. But once you act, the result of your action is not in your hand. Who creates this result, karmaphala? The order that is universal law. You are the cause for action, karmahetu, the law is the giver of the result, karmaphalhetu. This is not a man-made law; this is the law, that is Isvara. Every result of my action that comes to me is from Isvara. This is a cognitive change. There is nothing material here. Nor is there anything to practise. If there is anything to practise at all, it is to bring yourself to accept all results equally, coming as they do, from Isvara. That is why after puja, whatever comes from the altar is called prasada. Prasada can be even ashes, vibhuti, kunkuma, a leaf or it can be your own child. Your own body, your senses, your mind are all prasada to you. The whole jagat is prasada. Is there anything here that does not come from the Lord? In that attitude there is `namah', there is non-resistence, graceful acceptance. This is called `samatvam'; this is karma-yoga. Thus in everything I do, I recognise Isvara. I invoke His help, the seventh factor, by praying, "O Lord, help me manage my likes and dislikes. Give me the wisdom to recognise and the strength to do what is appropriate." And with the help of Isvara I can manage the situation. Only then, can I achieve the ultimate success, born out of Self-knowledge. Between Isvara and you, there is an identity, like that between the ocean and the wave. The reality of both the ocean and the wave is water. The truth of Isvara and you is sat-cit-ananda atma. You can discover this through the study of Vedanta.