What Gives Results - Luck or Effort?

Is it luck or effort that makes someone successful?
You might expect the answer to be luck because we think that Sanatana Dharma propagates the principle of destiny; that everything is pre-decided.
A man becoming rich or powerful or prosperous is written in his horoscope.
Is that true?
That's not what Mahabharata says.
It's not completely right or even completely wrong.

Yudhishtira had asked Bhishmacharya this question.
And see what clarity Bhishmacharya gives.

Before that what exactly is luck?
Is it fluke?
No.
जन्मान्तरकृतं कर्म तद्दैवमिति कथ्यते ।
Luck is nothing but the result of your own karma from earlier births.
Say, you have performed Lakshmi sadhana in your previous birth but did not get any result then.
The result has to come to you.
If not then, now in this birth.

Bhishmacharya compares this to how a farmer cultivates in his field.
Luck or fortune is like the seeds that he sows.
The harvest that he is going to get depends on what kind of seeds he is sowing.
If he is sowing paddy, he will get rice.
If he is sowing wheat, he will get wheat.

But unless he sows the seeds, will he get a harvest?
No.
Just because he possesses a bagful of seeds will not give him a harvest.
He should sow them, water them, and nurture them.
So effort is involved.
If he works on a field with no seeds harvested, will there be a harvest?
No.
That means, both luck arising out of past karma and effort play roles in someone's success.
In equal proportion?
Is their importance equal?
Bhishma's answer is No.
Effort plays the crucial role.
Luck is like a foundation, what you build on top of it is through your own effort.
Without effort, luck won't fructify.

Bhismacharya establishes this through several statements and examples.
Man achieves name, fame, wealth, power, and position only though effort and with the support of good luck.
Nothing can be achieved without effort.
Mere luck is like seeds in a bag; they can not grow into a harvest on their own.

Veda says that Devas achieved Swargaloka through effort, by performing yajnas.
If they Devas were destined to be Devas or born as Devas, then why did they have have to perform yajnas.
Indra performed 100 Ashwamedha yagas and then became Indra.

It is not just a principle, you can actually see effort giving result.
You take 100 successful people.
How many of them do you see reaching there without effort?
Hardly any.
Luck would have supported them, no doubt but luck alone would not have took them there.
But effort not yielding any result is difficult to find.
Someone making it only by luck and sustaining it is even more difficult to find.
The result may not be according to the expectation.
But right, intelligent, planned effort always gives results.
Effort is the leader, luck follows him, not the other way round.

But your own karma from the past births is at the base of of our attitude, aptitude and inclination.
Your vasanas, what you have been doing in the past lives decide what you do at present.
If you have been hardworking in the past lives, you will continue to work hard even now, you will get opportunities to work hard and make it.
That's why good karma matters a lot.
Good karma will give you the right circumstances and opportunities, like a fertile land where you can cultivate and get a good harvest.
Your present karma is going to decide what opportunities you will get in the future births.
Whether you will be born into a billionaire family or a rural peasant family will be decided by what you do today. it's not mere chance, it is a definite outcome.

Bhishmacharyan gives example of the Pandavas themselves.
When they lost everything, the Pandavas did not blame it on bad luck or wait for their time to turn good.
They regained everything though effort, fighting a war.
They took Krishna's advice and guidance, they didn't ask Krishna to do their work.

Luck is like a wind that strengthens the fire which is effort.
Effort is like a wind that flares up the fire which is luck.

Bhishmacharya concludes by saying that he has always seen results for the right effort.
Effort is triggered by one's own past karma but effort is the dominant factor in obtaining results.