In front of every successful person

The best warrior in the whole of Mahabharata was Arjuna. Is Arjuna's success, as a warrior, only because of his skills or is there any other force driving him? We will look at two different scenarios and try to understand this.

During the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna sees something peculiar, some force right in front of his chariot holding a lance, and even before his arrows pierce the enemy, the lance seems to be doing so. Arjuna discusses this with rishi Vyasa who mentions that the person in front of the chariot is none other than Shiva himself. The other force being Lord Krishna protecting Arjuna and giving the right advice and direction. Lord Hanuman on top of the chariot and other protecting Shaktis were all there until the war ended.

After the Kurukshetra war and the destruction of the Yadava dynasty, Arjuna was to bring the women, children, and left out people, of the Vrishni race, to Hastinapura. As they proceed through the forest, robbers attack the procession and Arjuna takes out his bow to fight them. He tries to remember his celestial weapons (Astras) but could not remember any. He does not seem to have the same energy as before. In the end, hardly they got away from the robbers and reach Kurukshetra.

Arjuna asked rishi Vyasa about this and Vyasa says, you have achieved the purpose of your life. The weapons have achieved their purpose and returned to the place they came from. It's time for you to move on to achieve the highest goal (Mahaprasthan). 

When the need arises things work and divine energies help us and upon their retreat, we may not have the same vigor. At the peak of our success, we should be grateful to the visible/invisible forces helping us and be aware of the fact that some bigger cause is happening through us.

Free will (Mahabharata)

Let us analyse few instances from the epic Mahabharata and try to understand how free will works.

Arjuna -> Jayadratha vadha: After Abhimanyu was slain in Chakravyuha by Kauravas, Arjuna vowed to kill Saindhava (Jayadratha) the next day (before sunset when the war ends) or kill himself if unable to do so. Krishna asked Arjuna as to why he made such a vow without consulting him or his brothers. Arjuna said that I have you by my side and victory will be with us.

Every event that happens post this proves how Krishna helped to make the vow (made out of free will) come true. Krishna asked Daruka (the charioteer of Lord Krishna) to prepare his chariot and keep it ready if needed so that he can fight. That night Krishna took Arjuna (in a dream) to the abode of Lord Shiva to get the blessings and the Astra (Pasupata).

This message (vow) reached Kauravas and the entire army planned to protect Jayadratha. The next day almost got over by the time Arjuna could reach Jayadratha and Krishna had to create the illusion of Sunset minutes before the actual sunset so that Arjuna could use that short time to kill Jayadratha.

Karna -> Shakti Astra: The Astra given by Indra, in return of Kavacha kundala, to Karna, was to be used only once to kill any one warrior (Arjuna). But Karna did not use it on the battlefield against Arjuna. This is intriguing as to why the most important weapon wasn't used to gain victory. Not that it was missed or wasn't part of the strategy, as we see this was always discussed in the night time and Karna wanted to use it the following day. On the battlefield, Krishna avoided a direct battle between Karna and Arjuna but the even more important thing is that the thought itself was stupefied.

Gandhari -> curse: After the Kurukshetra war Pandavas come to meet Dhritarashtra and Gandhari. Gandhari afflicted with grief wanted to curse Yudhisthira, but rishi Vyasa intervenes and stops her from giving the curse and advises her to show restraint.

After this Gandhari and others head to the battlefield where Krishna was cursed by Gandhari saying the Yadava dynasty would come to an end.

We see three scenarios of freewill here, one being aided for completion, one stopped at the thought level, and the third at the action following a thought. So what is the difference between them? Killing Saindhava might not be important but since Arjuna made the vow it had to be accomplished or it would hinder the bigger scheme of things. Similarly, Karna killing Arjuna would weaken the Pandavas and would lead to Dharma not being established. Finally, if Gandhari cursed Yudhisthira it would be a bad example for anyone trying to establish dharma and ending up cursed. Yadava dynasty coming to an end was part of the bigger plan so a curse related to that will make it easier.

So the bottom line would be if free will is completely going against the bigger scheme of things it would end up being hindered. Being on the side of Dharma and closer to God should aid it.