Aniroodh Sivaraman, 

The Nature sponsors everything that happens. We should always remember this. A deity does not have to be present, only nature forces have to be there and then a series of events are triggered and become history.

Nature gives opportunities to those who endeavor. In one life one acts agressively for something and then in a future life, nature puts one in position to get that desire fulfilled but it is always combined with flaws because a limited entity cannot at any time see all the angles.

Nature sets it up but the entity capitalizes on it at his/her expense. The returns finds the actor in the future but while acting one may not realize this. One may feel that it is completed to one's satisfaction or that it was not done and one feels frustration. In either mood, nature will still send the bills to the actor in the future.

Deities may or may not be involved in an obvious or covert way. The main comprehension is that it occurs according to how nature functions, irrespective of deities. If deities are involved, they too must work with nature as it is. The key functions are nature's design, what she allows to happen and how she responds to anyone's actions.

One person alone cannot rule a country. There are others involved. Some are cirumstantially forced to participate. Some are opportunists. When it is all over, each has to face the consequences individually depending on the percentage of involvement.

Mao was given the opportunity to manage the resentments of centuries of abuse of peasants in China. But even though it was set by destiny, that did not free him from consequences for mistakes he made. Nature may give an opportunity but later she does the accounting and if the actions are faulty, she dishes out the reactions accordingly.

Working like this for nature, taking opportunities for ruling, is really a bad deal all around because if mistakes are made, nature backs on into a corner and spits on one. She is not a nice employer.

Sometimes we are looking to find deities to help us avoid the bad reactions which are due but the deities have little to do with it. Thus in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna gave the course explaining about the three general influences of nature, the various gunas. He give so much details but we think it is too much for a simple matter.

Even if one gets help from a deity, one will still have to relate to nature within one's psyche. That is the main lure. It is our major confidence, that relationship in the psyche with nature, that privacy with her in the mind. What is the value of deities when the most confidential companion of the coreSelf is nature within its mind. 

Nature is much closer to the coreSelf than anything. So that is the issue to be figured!