Law OfKarmaandReincarnation
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Transcript of Law OfKarmaandReincarnation
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Law of Karma and Reincarnation Epistemological comparison in Vedanta & Buddhism
Abstract : Law of Karma & Reincarnation has been an integrated philosophy in almost every
religion on this planet. Vedantic scriptures especially The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads testify
to the immortality of soul. Soul changes body like we change old clothes and wears a new body
but the rewards and punishments subsequent to the karmic actions in the previous birth will
have to be accepted in the present birth as willed by the providence. Buddhism agrees that Law
of Karma will ensure that good actions -kusala karmas will bear good fruit whereas bad actions
-akusala karmas will bear bad fruit but differs with Vedanta as it denies the existence of God
and asserts that Law of Karma works itself. Based on the above comparisons, the present paper
builds a Comparative Template from these two ancient religions of the world.
Main Article
Introduction
Pali word Kamma or Sanskrit word Karma (from the root kr- to do) means doing i.e. action.
Karma is sometimes referred to as fate or destiny but this is not the connotation of the word
Karma in the Law of Karma. Neither does it imply the fruits of actions. Karma is action itself.
Law of Karma & Reincarnation has been an integrated philosophy in almost every religion on
this planet. However Vedantic scriptures especially The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads testify
to the immortality of soul. Soul changes body like we change old clothes and wears a new body
but the rewards and punishments subsequent to the karmic actions in the previous birth will
have to be accepted in the present birth as willed by the providence. Buddhism agrees that Lawof Karma will ensure that good actions -kusala karmas will bear good fruit whereas bad actions
-akusala karmas will bear bad fruit but differs with Vedanta as it denies the existence of God
and asserts that Law of Karma works itself.
Buddhism
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Buddhism originated around 2400 years ago after Sidharatha the Prince attained
enlightenment. The Prince became the Buddha the Awakened One and he started
sermonizing the masses on what is popularly known as the Middle Path and The Four Noble
Truths. The gist of his teachings is that life is a suffering (dukkha, Samuaya) and the cause of all
suffering is desire. The way leading to the cessation of dukkha (Mega) is the annihilation of
desires and that is when one reaches Nirodha (the cessation of dukkha). Buddhism became very
popular with stately Indian kings who patronized and popularized it further. Although Buddhism
came to be divided into two parts after Buddhas death, namely Hinayana and Mahayana but for
the purpose of this study we would concentrate on Buddhas sermons as contained in
Dhammapada.
Law of Karma in Buddhism : In Buddhist Theory of Karma, Karma has a special significance.
Karma means the volitional action and not all actions. It is the action per se and not the rewards
thereof as is sometimes misunderstood. In Buddhist terminology, Karma never means the effect
which is known as karam phala or karam-vipaka. The Theory of Karma should not be confused
with so called moral justice or reward and punishment. The idea of moral justice or reward and
punishment presupposes the idea of existence of supreme entity which the Buddhism denies
vehemently. Buddha was a supreme man, a self realized soul but even he refused the title of God
or Incarnate for himself. There is no God or soul. The religious book of verses attributed to the
Buddha is The Dhammapada which contains ethical messages. The ethical teaching of the
Dhammapada is expressed in the first pair of verses: the mind, through its actions (kamma), is
the chief architect of one's happiness and suffering both in this life and beyond. Karma is the
energy which drives samsara- the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. The first three
chapters elaborate on this point, to show that there are two major ways of relating to this fact: as
a wise person, who is heedful enough to make the necessary effort to train his/her own mind to
be a skillful architect; and as a fool, who is heedless and sees no reason to train the mind. This
message of kusala and akusala karmas is aptly conveyed in the first two verses of theDhammapada.
Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart.
If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you --
as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.
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If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart,
then happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves.
Good, skillful and bad, unskillful actions produce seeds in the mind which come to fruition
either in this life or in a subsequent re-birth. The avoidance of unwholesome actions and
cultivation of positive actions is called sila(ethical conduct).
Re-birth or re-incarnation
Buddhism starts with the idea of an unknowable reality. There are thought processes or two
schools of Buddhism the Northern School and the Southern School of Buddhism. Northern
School holds that the soul accompanied by its karma, reincarnates along the same lines as those
taught by all other Hindu schools of Reincarnation and Karma. But the Southern School holds
that it is not the soul entity that reincarnates (for there is no such entity) but that instead it is
Karma or Essence of Deeds that reincarnates from life to life according to its attractions, desires,
merits or demerits.
The Law of Karma underpins the process of transmigration of soul. Karma literally means
action but more often refers to the accumulated reaction to activities. The self determination and
accountability of individual soul rests on its capacity for free choice. In Buddism, re-birth means
succession of lifetimes as ordained by previous karmas. Each re-birth takes place within one of
the six possible life forms of human life form is the best life form where man has the freedom to
choose his actions and thus engaging in god actions, he can elevate himself to the Maha-
nirvana or self-realization stage. Other life-forms like naraka-beings, animals, preta,
asuras are lowly forms of life wherein they just dilute their past bad karma and slowly become
eligible for human life formand devas the sixth life form means higher gods or deities.
Vedanta
Hinduism is one the most ancient religions of the world. The main scriptures of Hinduism are
Vedas which are four in number namely Rigveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda and Yajurveda.
Unlike Buddhist scriptures which contain teaching of Gautama- the Buddha, Vedic injunctions
are un-attributable to any one great saint or rishi of yore times. Infact, Vedas are supposed be
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direct revelation from God to mankind and those rishis who were the direct recipients of this
great knowledge have remained anonymous. These were not penned down until 1500 BC and
hence they were passed by words of mouth from teacher to the disciple. Each of the four
Vedas are further sub-divided into four parts- Aranayaka, Brahamana, Samhitas and Upanishads.
The first three parts contain the ritualistic part of Hinduism and the last and fourth part the
Upanishads which contain the philosophical part of Hinduism that is the philosophy of individual
soul (jiva) and the cosmic soul (brahman) and the connection between the two. And because
Upanishads are appended at the end of Vedas so they are called Vedanta or the End of Vedas.
The language and terminology used in the Upanishads is vague, abstract and requires a very high
level of intellectual understanding backed up with able guidance. So to make Upanishads user
friendly, Rishi Ved Vyasa presented the simplified version of Upanishads in the Bhagavad
Gita. So Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita together are called Vedanta.
Re-incarnation in Vedanta
Concept of Karma originated from Hindu belief that there is a perfect Universal order named
Rita in world. In Rig Veda, Varun is named as the guardian of Rita. Ancient Hindu Scriptures
categorically assert that Chitragupta is the universal record keeper of all good and bad actions
of all human beings. The good and bad karmas and even the good and bad thoughts go to his
records and there is no escaping from this divine record. Ultimately, at the end of life, aBalance Sheet is prepared and excess of good Karmas over bad Karmas is credit balance and
vice versa. So every being has to take birth to enjoy credit balance or to suffer for the debit
balance of his previous lifes balance sheet. The re-birth has been very clearly cited in the 5 th
shloka, Ch 4 of the Bhagavad Gita
Bahuni me vaytitani janamani tav cha Arjun
Tanyaham veda sarvani na twam vetatha Prantapa
(Arjuna, you and I have passed through many births ; I remember them all ; you do not
remember, O slayer of foes)
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And again in shloka 22 of Ch 2 the transmigration of soul is very clearly indicated by Lord
Krishna
Vasansi Jirnani yatha vihaya, navani grihanati naroparani
Tatha sharirani vihaya jirana, nayanati sanyati navani dehi
(as a man shedding worn out garments, takes other new ones, like wise, the embodied soul,
casting off worn out bodies, enters into others that are new)
The Vedantists teach that the evolution of soul is accompanied by its escaping folds of Maya or
materiality one by one by means of re-birth until it manifests more and more of its divine nature
and thus it goes on and on from higher to still higher until at last the individual soul or Jiva uniteswith the cosmic soul or Brahaman which is called the Moksha in Hinduism and Nirvana in
Buddhism.
Law of Karma
The Law of Karma can be studied in three parts :
Sanchit Karmas : This is the sum total of past karmas yet to be resolved.
Prarabadha Karmas : It is that portion of Sanchit Karmas which are scheduled to be experienced
in the present life.
Kriyamana Karamas : It is the karma which is being generated presently. While some kriyamana
karmas bear fruit in present life, others are stored for future births.
Law of Karma is the most misunderstood Law in Hinduism. People blame the orthodox
bahyavadi mentality of Hindu race on the Law of Karma. They say when everything is predecided by God Himself and each being on Earth will enjoy or suffer as ordained so why make
an effort? But what they allege is the emanation from a superficial understanding of the Law of
Karma and non differentiation of Law of Karma from Law of Destiny. Whilst Law of Karma
says that one has to suffer or enjoy the effects of the karmas of previous life, there is no need to
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despair as human beings are endowed with intellect. Intellect equips them with the
differentiating mechanism whereby they can understand the difference between good karmas and
bad karmas. The Law of destiny says that in the present birth whilst enjoying or suffering the
effects of past life, man has still a choice- the choice of good karmas or bad karmas in the present
which will ultimately decide his future destiny.
Conclusion
Both the ancient religions propagate ethics, morality and good karmas via the Law of Karma and
Theory of Reincarnation. There are differences in the enunciation and interpretation. Buddhism
denies existence of God, soul and believes that Law of Karma works on its own, on the basis of
cause and effect principle and soul is non-existent but each human being is born again and
again to undergo the suffering of his previous bad karmas. Vedanta firmly establishes the
existence of soul and its transmigration and further God as the universal manager. Nonetheless,
both religions firmly establish the Law of Cause and Effect which is the propitiator of re-births
or the cause of beings coming on Earth again and again.