Intention, Action and Result

The very first step of working for a result is the intention of the worker. The intention is followed by action which indeed generates resources for producing the result. For a given intention and the desired result, the action does not remain the same but alters with change of circumstances. Thus, the result is produced when there is a coherence in the intention and the action subject to circumstantial factors. For example, you intend to heat a bucket of water to say 30 degree Celsius (the result). During a summer the water shall need less heat than that during a winter. Thus the weather makes a circumstantial factor, and the action has to be in accordance to this. Without taking care of this factor, the desired result can not be achieved whatever good the intention may be.

Now, a question arises – how to judge a person – by his/her intention or by the result he/she produces? While intention is essential for the result, the action needs application of his/her wisdom to achieve the intended result. So, even if the person has all the good intentions, he/she may not be wise enough to produce the desired result. Therefore, it is not enough to have a god intention only, having wisdom to produce result is also equally important. In management of business or other matters of life, it is the final outcome by which a person is judged irrespective of his/her intentions. 

In some cases, the situation may go beyond control of the performer when the circumstances change unexpectedly. In such cases, the performer can not be blamed for not producing the desired result and his/her intention is taken as a measure of his/her conduct. 

Intention, however, may be taken as a measure of he person’s morality irrespective of the results he/she produces but for it is the result that measures a person’s wisdom. Thus, intention is to morality what actions are to wisdom.