One can never escape his/her karma. The Purāṇas say that just as a calf is able to locate its mother among a million cows, karma is able to locate its reciever similarly and thus, one can never escape what is destined for him. Those who have nothing but bad karma written in their previous lives have no other option but to suffer the results. Bhartṛhari describes it using the following subhāṣita-verse:
khalvāṭo divaseśvarasya kiraṇaiḥ santāpite mastake
vāñchan deśam anātapaṁ vidhi-vaśāt tālasya mūlaṁ gataḥ
tatrāpy asya mahāphalena patatā bhagnaṁ sa-śabdaṁ śiraḥ
prāyo gacchati yatra bhāgya-rahitas tatraiva yānty āpadaḥ
"A bald man's head was burning by the strong rays of the sun. He decided to find some relief from the heat, and by the arrangements of providence he found shelter under a palm-tree. Even after finding relief with such great difficulty, a coconut fell on him, breaking open his head with a loud cracking noise. Truly, wherever an ill-fated person goes, his misfortunes follow him."
— (Nīti-śataka of Bhartṛhari, Verse 90)
(Originally published on Facebook on 14th April 2015).
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