Adversity, The Deliverer

In a scene from the film 'Hanuman Ansh', a woman is drawing water at a well when a wandering ascetic arrives and, smiling, asks her for a drink. She offers him water, but no sooner does he look upon her face than he declares that she is soon to become a widow. She is naturally incensed, yet the ascetic calmly explains that her husband will wake thirsty in the night, and as he reaches for the empty pitcher, a black cobra coiled behind it will strike him dead.

On hearing this, the woman is seized with terror, breaks into anguished cries, and, in despair, attempts to end her own life by leaping into the well. At that very instant, the ascetic restrains her and tells her that this is precisely our failing: to grow weary and flee the moment adversity appears, to surrender without even attempting resistance, to demand miracles for everything instantly, having no faith whatsoever in action itself. His words kindle a flame of hope within her, and she runs home to find her husband's life saved.

The Aitareya Brahmana proclaims with striking clarity, 'Charaiveti, charaiveti' - keep moving, keep moving, keep acting, for motion itself is but another name for life. Even on the battlefield, Krishn extolled the supremacy of desireless action. Dispelling Arjun's confusion and despondency, he said that one's dominion lies over action alone, never over its fruits. To remain without action and merely await the turning of fortune could be detrimental to our well-being.