Question: In a recent lecture I heard the following explanation: “Our bodies are not ours, even our soul is not something we can claim to be ours, since the soul is directly an energy of Krishna. The only thing which we can claim to be ours is our relationship with Krishna.” Does this mean that, similarly, our free will is the only thing which is ours (that too being given by Krishna)? We can use our free will to come closer to or go further away from our relationship with Krishna. Can we infer it like this also?
Answer by Romapada Swami :
Yes, this is a correct understanding. Our only possession is our relationship with Krishna and the freedom to choose whether or not to act within that relationship is an act of free will.
Another way of saying the same thing is that we, the living entities, are infinitesimal (anu) and therefore have but a tiny free will, thus minute independence. Our only independence is to choose how we regard Krishna and accordingly we are placed under the jurisdiction of either the internal energy or the external, material energy. Under the influence of the external energy, maya, one may falsely think oneself to be the proprietor and controller of something, at least of one’s own self. But in reality, all of a conditioned soul’s actions and choices are controlled by the modes of material nature.
