All those who have read Bhagvad Gita must be aware of Lord Krishna's advice to Arjuna: "Do your duty but leave the result to Me."

In this article I would describe two incidents from my life which displayed the operation of this advice rather strikingly.

The first incident belongs to the years when Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) was just set up and it had allowed trading in Gold. First it allowed trading in Gold in 10, 100 gm lots and later in Kg lots.

I was then trading in 10, 100 gm lots when one day I heard that MCX had started trading in Kg lots as well. With this in mind while on the one hand I asked the broker if Gold trading has also been allowed in Kg lots now, on the other, simultaneously I ordered him to buy my customary 10 lots at market price.

The broker somehow mixed up things and instead brought for me 10, 1 Kg lots. That was straight ten times more than my usual quantity.

I did not know about the mix up, sending the information of trade on Mobiles/emails like the present days had not started then. I only ordered or asked anything on the phone and as is my wont I often did not bother to ask for confirmation immediately. I would assume that as I ordered to buy on market price the order must have been carried out. If at all I would ask in the next morning and I have forgotten whether I asked or not but it will soon be obvious as the reader goes on reading that I must have only asked something like, "Has the trade I last ordered been carried out? At what price?" I mean neither I did ask for the lot nor broker mentioned the same to me.

And then I forgot all about the trade for about a week or so. I did not see the rate even daily unlike now when it is in front of one's eyes each second nor in those days the volatility was so much compared to the present. 'At the most it will be a case of plus or minus Rs 50000 -1 lac, I thought.

After some time I saw that the rate has increased by about Rs 550 per 10 gm . I thought it is enough, I should book profit now and casually asked the broker what profit I was making on the trade expecting that he will be telling me something to the tune of Rs 55000.

"You have made Rs 550000," the broker told me clearing his throat. "Are you sure" I said, not understanding what had really happened, or whether he was joking. But beyond this I kept my silence. "Yes, you can check the details when I send you the contract note/account," he added. "Ok, ok, I said, it is alright."

Later after much thought I deciphered what could have happened. Of course my joy knew no bounds as in fact I needed that money or rather cash for the marriage of my younger son. I had property but I wanted cash and one cannot sell property immediately nor even shares as it depends upon the market situation.

The second incident happened almost ten years later. Both my sons had been married and ever over-confident, I had distributed all my property to them except for some cash to "play with" as I often said.

But then Lord Krishna showed me the other side of his advice of course to give me a few new lessons of my life as I later discovered.

I had much dabbled in charts by then and thought I have become an expert in deciphering the Magic and Logic of Elliott Waves. My confidence stood further boosted because I had myself discovered an original explanation of all evolution much like Elliott's four waves based on science's findings that all the forces in the universe can basically be reduced to four basic forces or interactions as they called them. I had discovered that in fact all evolution at all small or big fractal cycle levels is the result of the working of these four basic forces or interactions as physicists' called them.

I had even written and self-published a book around this theme titled Self Designed Universe though I could not sell it enough perhaps because I could neither put the idea in strict science nor in easily comprehensible manner other wise. Though one reason could also be that it was so ahead of its times and such books take time to make their place in people's psyches.

Anyway, I had now gone on the wrong or bearish side of my life (60 +) and to further compound the situation I thought I had become an expert in chart/Elliott-Wave reading when I once again plunged head on into Gold investing.

But alas! as if Lord Krishna was now out to get His money back!! No sooner I put the buy order into operation, vow be to my overconfidence, now in Kgs myself,  the Gold price nosedived and did not stop until I had incurred the loss almost equal to the money I owed to the Lord i.e., Rs 550000. (I seldom placed what is called stoploss order, an order to stop trade at pre-fixed rate to limit loss). In other words and to put the story in proper perspective I did my work and Krishna gave the results He now felt right.

Even though momentarily dismayed I bore no permanent grudge for I had strong, unshakable belief all through my life that whatever happens to me ultimately happens for my good,

To add an interesting corollary:

As the stories of Ramakrishna Parmahansa and Vivekananda go, sometimes the later could even pull former's leg though he was otherwise his disciple.

As Ramakrishna had throat cancer a time came when he found himself unable to swallow food through his throat. One day Vivekananda jokingly asked him why he does not ask his Ma (Kali Ma or Divine Mother whom Ramakrishna worshipped ) how he should take food now as she has given throat cancer to him.

The next morning Vivekananda saw that Ramakrishna was laughing uncontrollably. "What happened," Vivekananda asked, "did you ask the Mother?"

"Yes I did," replied Ramakrishna still laughing, "and Ma duly answered, I am laughing because I cannot stop wondering how come this simple answer did not come to my mind earlier!"

"What did the Mother say?" Inquired Vivekananda a bit bewildered.

"She said, why, you can now take food through anybody's throat...haven't you seen that all throats are yours?"

Something similar has often happened with me. I too have asked questions at crucial cross-roads in my life though addressed to my own Higher Self, my own 'God' within and I have heard answers which have fully satisfied me. I don't want to argue with those who will like to call it rationalisation of the mind but here is what happened to me after the above episode concerning loss in Gold.

Though as said above I have always accepted that whatever has and will happen to me will always be for my best and it has proved right all through my life sometimes being known to me immediately after the incident some other times a bit later, this time perhaps because I was a bit in my downward journey I asked so straight way for the first time. "Why so  O Lord?" I asked.

"When Nature has to wean away (Weaning means breast feeding) the progeny from mother's milk, She has to dry up mother's breasts," pat came the reply from somewhere my deeper Self.

And seeing my struggling sons to stand on their own feet almost as immediately I understood it.

Since then in fact I have heard from many people's mouths how they suddenly lost quite a fortune around this age despite all their wisdom of the lifetime.

----