In the Holy Bible, Exodus 14:14, there is a powerful statement “The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still”.

In the song celestial-the Holy Bhagavad Gita, Bhagawan Sri Krishna, in Chapter 11, Verse 34, unequivocally asserts:

“yudhyasva jetāsi raṇe sapatnān” meaning - “Do not be dejected. Fight and you will conquer the enemies of your mind because God wants you to succeed. Your effort will be instrumental, while God will fashion your victory by his grace.”

In the Holy Quran 3:126, it says “Victory comes only from God, the Almighty, most wise”.

In spite of such assurances, during trying and challenging times, people always rush to astrologers, palmists, face readers, and numerologists, seeking ways to get victory over their enemies and enhance their fortunes. Newspapers and magazines contain regular columns about what the stars foretell, and other astrological forecasts, which are lapped up as the truth, by avid readers.

A wise man once remarked that in times of distress, people are prone to seek help either from a physician, an astrologer, a black magician, or a priest. Each of these professionals will give a diagnosis and prognostication, according to his profession only. Thus, a physician would diagnose that to malfunctioning of a particular organ, has affected normal functioning and thinking, leading to the crisis. For the same crisis, the astrologer would interpret that unfavourable transit of planets has caused the problem, the black magician would read the involvement of enemies and esoteric practices as the hidden reason and the priest would assert that lack of devotion has caused god to take an unfavourable view, resulting in the crisis. Some may approach Karmic Philosophers, who may opine that crimes done in past births need to be neutralized. Yet others may approach practitioners of Vastushastra (Science of architecture), who may discern defects in the dwelling house. Thus, each practitioner would give a verdict, in tune with his professional knowledge only. 

There is also a rare breed of face readers who seek to read the hunger in the face and eyes of human beings. They say that there are two types of hunger in this world for which human beings yearn, fight, and destroy each other. One is the hunger of the stomach for which man conspires, fights, deceives, and kills. Hunger of the stomach, when widely interpreted will bring in its orbit the craze for wealth, power, and glory. The other hunger is what lies below the stomach, the craving for sex. Oliver Markus Malloy, in his book ‘Why Men And Women Can't Be Friends: Honest Relationship Advice for Women’ says “For us men, sex is the most important thing in the world. Men feel about sex the way vampires feel about blood. They don't just like it, they crave it. That's why vampire stories always have strong sexual undercurrents. A vampire's hunger is simply a metaphor for a man's lust.”

Students of History would recall that in Homer's The Iliad, Helen was the wife of the king of Sparta, Menelaus. She was so beautiful that Greek men fought the Trojan War to win her back from her lover Paris. "The face that launched a thousand ships" is a well-known figure of speech and a snippet of 17th-century poetry that refers to Helen of Troy, by English playwright Christopher Marlowe, which is considered among the most inspiring and famous lines in English literature:
“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships
And burnt the topless towers of Illium
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss...”

Humans rarely entrust Gods to conduct their personal fights, they prefer to offer bribes if a successful result is obtained. Thus devotees promising candles to be lighted, gold, silver, and precious stones, are all very common, implying that God’s successful performance of a devotee’s fight will be appropriately rewarded post facto! Till then, the astrologer, palmist, face reader, black magician, or priest, will decide the course of action, timing, and modus operandi of the fight.

The AI-Astrologer will soon make its presence felt, reading future planetary conjunctions and combinations, by flawlessly studying past similar configurations and happenings, to prognosticate, upcoming events. But life is not about information about future developments, it is about navigating and emerging unscathed from the personal, social, and professional dimensions of every problem. Neither AI, nor a priest, an astrologer, a physician, or a black magician, can be an effective substitute for God. Maybe, futuristic God-like AI, with unimaginable speed and prowess could redefine human existence, bringing to the fore a new interpretation of problems, issues, ethics, morals, and even spirituality.

There is no known remedy for the afflictions that befall each and every human being on this planet. Every man, woman, and child, as well as every living entity on this planet, is destined to fight their battles independently, and God is the only in-demand ally, available freely, at all times.  But, more importantly, as Abraham Lincoln says “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right”.

The author is former Director General of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics