A contemporary debate centers on the source of genius: Do
geniuses become geniuses because of their inborn talent? Or can hard work make
anyone a genius?
Certainly, hard work is essential for achieving anything
outstanding. Still, can hard work alone make any aspiring cricketer the next
Sachin Tendulkar? Thousands of wanna-be Tendulkars work just as hard as he did,
but can’t replicate his sustained batting brilliance.
Gita wisdom explains that we all are souls on a multi-life
journey, a journey that is meant to culminate in eternal ecstatic love for God.
In each lifetime, we start with a certain psychophysical nature acquired from
our previous lives, based on the way we have lived and the choices we have
made. This nature, with its constellation of talents and interests, is
different for different people. Some people are born with phenomenal talent
that serves as a powerful launching pad for extraordinary achievement. But what
propels them towards achievement is their commitment, their hard work in
training and practice for honing that talent.
Can commitment help the untalented improve? Certainly. But
commitment alone can’t replace talent; it can’t make a tone-deaf person the
next Mozart. The Bhagavad-gita (03.35) points to this innate diversity of
talent when it recommends that we not seek success in areas where we don’t have
the requisite talents, even if such areas seem easy, lucrative or glamorous.
This synergy of talent and commitment points to an
underlying human-divine synergy in life at large. By giving due recognition to
people’s talent, we acknowledge the role of divine arrangement. By giving due
recognition to people’s commitment, we acknowledge their hard work.
Overall, by internalizing Gita wisdom, we can both
introspect better to discover our hidden God-given talents and commit more
firmly for tapping those talents in a mood of service and contribution.
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