Karma in Hinduism
Encyclopedia
Karma
is a concept in Hinduism
which explains causality
through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated
lives forming a cycle of rebirth. The causality is said to be applicable not only to the material world but also to our thoughts, words, actions and actions that others do under our instructions. When the cycle of rebirth comes to an end, a person is said to have attained moksha
, or salvation from samsara
. Not all incarnations are human. The cycle of birth and death on earth is said to be formed from 8.4 million forms of life, but only in human life is an exit from this cycle possible.
.. The topic of karma is mentioned in the Puranas.
Definitions=
"Karma" literally means "deed" or "act", and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, which Hindus believe governs all consciousness. Karma is not fate
, for we act with what can be described as a conditioned free will
creating our own destinies. According to the Vedas, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determine our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction. Not all karmas rebound immediately. Some accumulate and return unexpectedly in this or other lifetimes. Human beings are said to produce karma in four ways:
Everything that we have ever thought, spoken, done or caused is karma, as is also that which we think, speak or do this very moment. Hindu scriptures divide karma into three kinds:
Actions performed consciously are weighted more heavily than those done unconsciously. On this basis some believe that only human beings who can distinguish right from wrong can do (kriyamana) karma. Therefore animals and young children are considered incapable of creating new karma (and thus cannot affect their future destinies) as they are incapable of discriminating between right and wrong.
This view is explained by the concepts of a Karma-deha ('action' body) and a Bhoga-deha ('completion' body).
The Bhoga-deha refers to a material body that can only expend karma. The soul in a Bhoga-deha body enjoys or suffers the consequences of previous acts, i.e. expends karma. So the Bhoga-deha is considered any non-human body; a plant, animal, insect etc. This body is solely meant for burning off karma. An animal, being under the complete control of Nature (Prakriti) and its influences and energy, is therefore regarded as being unable to create new (kriyaman) karma.
The Karma-deha refers to the human body. It is in the human body that we can, and do, create karma. It is in the human body that we are held responsible for our actions owing to the fact that we can exercise choice based on developed intelligence. The only way to break the cycle of material existence is through the human form, the karma-deha, but it is in the human form that we are most likely to create negative karma, thus throwing us back into a bhoga-deha body and keeping us bound in Samsara.
However, all sentient beings can feel the effects of karma, which are experienced as pleasure and pain. And just as poison affects us even if taken unknowingly, suffering caused unintentionally will also create an appropriate karmic effect.
Tulsidas
, a Hindu saint, said: "Our destiny was shaped long before the body came into being." As long as the stock of sanchita karma lasts, a part of it continues to be taken out as prarabdha karma for being enjoyed in one lifetime, leading to the cycle of birth and death. A Jiva
cannot attain moksha
(liberation) from the cycle of birth and death, until the accumulated sanchita karmas are completely exhausted.
The cycle of birth and death on earth is formed from 8.4 million forms of life, only one of which is human. Only as humans are we in position to do something about our destiny by doing the right thing at the right time. Through positive actions, pure thoughts, prayer, mantras and meditation, we can resolve the influence of karma in the present life and turn our destiny for the better. A spiritual master knowing the sequence in which our karma will bear fruit can help us. As humans we have the opportunity to speed up our spiritual progress with the practice of good karma. We produce negative karma because we lack knowledge and clarity.
Unkindness yields spoiled fruits, called paap, and good deeds bring forth sweet fruits, called punya. As one acts, so does one become: one becomes virtuous by virtuous action, and evil by evil action.
, a leading practicing school of Hinduism in existence today, consider Ishvara
, a personal supreme God, as playing that role.
According to the Vedanta view, a supreme God is ultimately the enforcer of karma but humans have the free will to choose good or evil.
In these theistic schools, karma is not seen merely as a law of cause and effect, a view espoused by Buddhism
or Jainism
, for example, but dependent on the will of a personal supreme God. Examples of a personal supreme God include Shiva
in Shaivism
or Vishnu
in Vaishnavism
. A good summary of this theistic view of karma is expressed by the following: "God does not make one suffer for no reason nor does He make one happy for no reason. God is very fair and gives you exactly what you deserve." Thus, the theistic schools emphasize that karma is one explanation for the problem of human suffering; a soul reincarnates into an appropriate body, which is dependent on karma and this is said to explain why some persons never get to see the fruits of their actions in their lives and why some children die when they have committed no sin. Thus, one must reap the fruits of one's personal karma and one may need to undergo multiple births, incarnating variously as plant, animal, or human. Such fruits of karma may be analogized to a bank (i.e., God) not letting a person be released from karma's effects until the bank account is settled.
school, do not accept the idea of a supreme God. According to the Samkya school, a supreme God does not exist but lesser highly evolved beings assist in delivering the fruits of karma;
thus,they consider devas
or spirits as playing some kind of role. These beings can help to deliver well-being in the temporal world and the after cycles of birth and death, and salvation as well.
kas, reject any such notions of divinity being responsible and see karma as acting independently, considering the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma. According to their view, neither supreme God nor does lesser divinities exist; rituals alone yield the fruits of karma; thus, they believe that the karmas (rituals) themselves yield the results, and there is no Supreme God or Ishvara or even lesser divinities dispensing the results.
(III.2.38-40), an important text in Vedanta, the major school of Hinduism, which endorses the concept of Ishvara i.e., a personal supreme God, as the source of fruits of karma, but note opposing views in order to refute them. For example, Swami Sivananda
's commentary on verse III.2.38 from the Brahma Sutras refers to the role of Ishvara (the Lord) as the dispenser of the fruits of karma. A commentary by Swami Vireswarananda on the same verse says that the purpose of this verse is specifically to refute the views of the Mimamsa
kas, who say that karma (work) and not Ishvara, gives the fruits of one's actions. According to the Mimamsakas it is useless to set up an Ishvara for that purpose, since Karma itself can give the result at a future time.
suggest an intermediate view, that karma is a law of cause and effect yet God can mitigate karma for His devotees. However, another interpretation of verses in the Bhagavad Gita suggest that God alone is the ultimate enforcer of karma.
Another view holds that a Sadguru, acting on God's behalf, can mitigate or work out some of the karma of the disciple.
disagree with the Buddhist views, Jain views and other Hindu views that karma is merely a law of cause and effect but instead additionally hold that karma is mediated by the will of a personal supreme God.
(III, 2, 38, and 41), a Vedantic text, Adi Sankara,an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta,argues that the original karmic actions themselves cannot bring about the proper results at some future time; neither can super sensuous, non-intelligent qualities like adrsta
—an unseen force being the metaphysical link between work and its result—by themselves mediate the appropriate, justly deserved pleasure and pain. The fruits, according to him, then, must be administered through the action of a conscious agent, namely, a supreme being (Ishvara
).
A human's karmic acts result in merits and demerits. Since unconscious things generally do not move except when caused by an agent (for example, the ax moves only when swung by an agent), and since the law of karma is an unintelligent and unconscious law, Sankara argues there must be a conscious God who knows the merits and demerits which persons have earned by their actions, and who functions as an instrumental cause in helping individuals reap their appropriate fruits. Thus, God affects the person's environment, even to its atoms, and for those souls who reincarnate, produces the appropriate rebirth body, all in order that the person might have the karmically appropriate experiences. Thus, there must be a theistic administrator or supervisor for karma, i.e., God.
Swami Sivananda
, an Advaita scholar, reiterates the same views in his commentary synthesising Vedanta views on the Brahma Sutras
. In his commentary on Chapter 3 of the Brahma Sutras, Sivananda notes that karma is insentient and short-lived, and ceases to exist as soon as a deed is executed. Hence, karma cannot bestow the fruits of actions at a future date according to one's merit. Furthermore, one cannot argue that karma generates apurva or punya, which gives fruit. Since apurva is non-sentient, it cannot act unless moved by an intelligent being such as God. It cannot independently bestow reward or punishment.
There is a passage from Swami Sivananda's translation of the Svetasvatara Upanishad (4:6) illustrating this concept:
In his commentary, the first bird represents the individual soul, while the second represents Brahman
or God
. The soul is essentially a reflection of Brahman. The tree represents the body. The soul identifies itself with the body, reaps the fruits of its actions, and undergoes rebirth. The Lord alone stands as an eternal witness, ever contented, and does not eat, for he is the director of both the eater and the eaten.
Swami Sivananda also notes that God is free from charges of partiality and cruelty which are brought against him because of social inequality
, fate, and universal suffering
in the world. According to the Brahma Sutras
, individual souls are responsible for their own fate; God is merely the dispenser and witness with reference to the merit and demerit of souls.
In his commentary on Chapter 2 of the Brahma Sutras, Sivananda further notes that the position of God with respect to karma can be explained through the analogy of rain. Although rain can be said to bring about the growth of rice, barley and other plants, the differences in various species is due to the diverse potentalities lying hidden in the respective seeds. Thus, Sivananda explains that differences between classes of beings are due to different merits belonging to individual souls. He concludes that God metes rewards and punishments only in consideration of the specific actions of beings.
.
Thirugnana Sambanthar of the Shaiva Siddhanta
school, in the 7th century C.E., writes about karma in his outline of Saivism. He explains the concept of karma in Hinduism by distinguishing it from that of Buddhism and Jainism, which do not require the existence of an external being like God. In their beliefs, just as a calf among a large number of cows can find its mother at suckling time, so also does karma find the specific individual it needs to attach to and come to fruition. However, theistic Hindus posit that karma, unlike the calf, is an unintelligent entity.
Hence, karma cannot locate the appropriate person by itself. Shri Sambantha concludes that an intelligent Supreme Being
with perfect wisdom and power (Shiva
, for example) is necessary to make karma attach to the appropriate individual.
In such sense, God is the Divine Accountant.
). In this way, God is ultimately responsible on one hand for our actions, and on the other for enjoyment and suffering in accordance with our karmas, without any prejudice to humans' moral responsibility as expressed through free will or as determined later by our own deeds. A good summary of his view is that "man is responsible, free to act as he wills to, for Siva only fulfills needs according to the soul's karma."
In Chapter 1 of 10th book of the Bhagavata Purana
, Vasudeva
, the father of Krishna
, exhorts Kamsa
to refrain from killing his wife, Devaki
, the mother of Krishna
, by stating that death is certain for those who are born and when the body returns to the five elements, the soul leaves the body and helplessly obtains another form in accordance with the laws of karma, citing passages from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
, IV:4:3. Moreover, he adds and states that the soul materializes into an appropriate body whatever the state of the mind one remembers at the time of death; i.e., at the time of the death, the soul and its subtle body of mind, intelligence and ego, is projected into the womb of a creature, human or non-human that can provide a gross body that is most suitable for the dominant state of the mind of the particular person at the time of death; note that this passage is similar in meaning as Bhagavad Gita
, VIII, verse 6 Such commentaries were provided by Edwin Bryant, Associate Professor of religion
at Rutgers University
, New Jersey
.
Many names in the Vishnu Sahasranama
, the thousand names of Vishnu
allude to the power of God in controlling karma. For example, the 135th name of Vishnu, Dharmadhyaksha, in the Advaita philosopher Sankara's interpretation means, "One who directly sees the merits (Dharma
) and demerits (Adharma
), of beings by bestowing their due rewards on them."
Other names of Vishnu alluding to this nature of God are Bhavanah, the 32nd name, Vidhata, the 44th name, Apramattah, the 325th name, Sthanadah, the 387th name and Srivibhavanah, the 609th name. Bhavanah, according to Sankara's interpretation, means "One who generates the fruits of Karmas of all Jiva
s (souls) for them to enjoy." The Brahma Sutra (3.2.28) "Phalmatah upapatteh" speaks of the Lord's function as the bestower of the fruits of all actions of the jiva
s.
of the Vishishtadvaita
school, another sub-school of Vedanta, addresses the problem of evil by attributing all evil things in life to the accumulation of evil karma of jiva
s (souls in bondage to a corporeal form) and maintains that God is amala, or without any stain of evil.
In Sri Bhasya
, Ramanuja's interpretation of the Brahma sutras from a Vaishnavite theistic view, Brahman, whom he conceives as Vishnu
, arranges the diversity of creation in accordance with the different karma of individual souls.
Ramanuja, in Sri Bhasya 1.1.1., reiterates that inequality and diversity in the world are due to the fruits of karma of different souls and the omnipresent energy of the soul suffers pain or pleasure due to its karma. The distinction between the fruits of karma, i.e., good and evil karma, are due to Vishnu as the supreme Enforcer of karma yet souls alone have the freedom and responsibility for their acts.
Furthermore, Ramanuja believes that Vishnu
wishing to do a favour to those who are resolved on acting so as fully to please Him, engenders in their minds a tendency towards highly virtuous actions, such as means to attain to Him; while on the other hand, in order to punish those who are resolved on lines of action altogether displeasing to Him, He engenders in their minds a delight in such actions as have a downward tendency and are obstacles in the way of the attainment of God.
, the founder of the Dvaita
school, another sub-school of Vedanta,on the other hand, believes that there must be a root cause for variations in karma even if karma is accepted as having no beginning and being the cause of the problem of evil. Since jivas have different kinds of karma, from good to bad, all must not have started with same type of karma from the beginning of time. Thus, Madhva concludes that the jiva
s (souls) are not God's creation as in the Christian doctrine, but are rather entities co-existent with Vishnu
, although under His absolute control. Souls are thus dependent on Him in their pristine nature and in all transformations that they may undergo.
According to Madhva, God, although He has control, does not interfere with Man's free will; although He is omnipotent, that does not mean that He engages in extraordinary feats. Rather, God enforces a rule of law and, in accordance with the just deserts of jivas, gives them freedom to follow their own nature. Thus, God functions as the sanctioner or as the divine accountant, and accordingly jivas are free to work according to their innate nature and their accumulated karma, good and bad. Since God acts as the sanctioner, the ultimate power for everything comes from God and the jiva only utilizes that power, according to his/her innate nature. However, like Shankara
's interpretation of the Brahma Sutras
as mentioned earlier, Madhva, agrees that the rewards and punishments bestowed by God are regulated by Him in accordance with the good and sinful deeds performed by them, and He does so of out of His own will to keep himself firm in justice and he cannot be controlled in His actions by karma of human beings nor can He be accused of partiality or cruelty to anyone.
Swami Tapasyananda
further explains the Madhva view by illustrating the doctrine with this analogy: the power in a factory comes from the powerhouse (God), but the various cogs (jivas) move in a direction in which they are set. Thus he concludes that no charge of partiality and cruelty can be brought against God. The jiva is the actor and also the enjoyer of the fruits of his/her own actions.
Madhva differed significantly from traditional Hindu beliefs, owing to his concept of eternal
damnation
. For example, he divides souls into three classes: one class of souls which qualify for liberation (Mukti-yogyas
), another subject to eternal rebirth or eternal transmigration (Nitya-samsarins
), and a third class that is eventually condemned to eternal hell
or Andhatamas (Tamo-yogyas
). No other Hindu philosopher or school of Hinduism holds such beliefs. In contrast, most Hindus believe in universal salvation: that all souls will eventually obtain moksha
, even if it is after millions of rebirths.
. By the mercy of both Krsna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service." (C.C.Madhya 19-151-164)
"Jnanis, yogis and karmis devoid of devotional service are called offenders.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, mayavadi krishne aparadhi: one who thinks that everything is maya
instead of thinking that everything is Krishna
is called an aparadhi, or offender."
"Karma refers in the broadest sense to any activity, but it often means activities performed within the bounds of Vedic injunctions with the intention of enjoying the results. (Another term, vikarma, is used for activity forbidden by the Vedas.) So karma, although having religious stature, is still material. The karmi is interested in rewards like money, sense pleasure, and fame in this life, and he also seeks promotion to higher planets in the next life. The great defect of karma is that it always results in reactions, which force the karmi to take another material birth by the process of transmigration of the soul.
Therefore, whether "good" or "bad," pious or impious, all karma keeps one bound within the cycle of birth and death."
The difficult question why some people are born into more and others into less suffering (problem of evil
) is answered by explaining that people reincarnate according to the law of karma. Everybody is enjoying and suffering the reactions of his/her own previous deeds. God wants voluntary, spontaneous love and service, not mechanic execution of orders. This implies the necessity of free will of the individual and as such the possibility to misuse free will. The law of karma does not mean doom to eternal material life, because God is beyond karma and can free those who want to serve Him purely. A pure devotee attains the transcendental eternal abode of God, where there is no evil and sufferings, because all people there are spontaneously serving God. There is no negative karma in the abode of God because there is no negative thought there, what to speak of negative action.
, a foundational scripture of the Swaminarayan faith, Lord Swãminãrayan says, “Just as when seeds which are planted in the earth sprout upwards after coming into contact with rainwater, similarly, during the period of creation, the jiva
s which had resided within maya
together with their kãran sharir (causal body), attain various types of bodies according to their individual karmas by the will of God, the giver of the fruits of karmas.” (Vartãl 6)
So, thus, just as in other theistic schools of Hinduism, followers of the Swaminaryan faith believe that God is the giver of the fruits of our actions. Although people may think that God is cruel when He dispenses the fruits of bad actions, this is not the case. God, in fact, is impartial towards all. The Brahma Sutras
by Veda Vyasa say, “God is not biased in giving happiness and misery to anyone but gives the fruits of one’s karmas.” (2-1-34) However, unlike general schools of Hinduism, the Swaminarayan followers believe in Lord Swaminarayan as the supreme God, which is not believed by followers of Hinduism.
; even though Vishnu
's Avatar
Rama was the child of Dasharatha and Kausalya
, Kausalya became a widow upon Dasharatha's death, yet He did not interfere to remove their miseries.
However, Shri Maharajji also notes that the results of one's karma is dependent on many factors: 1) prarabdha karma
, or fixed karma that is to be experienced in this life; 2) kriyamana karma
, which are actions we perform and reap the fruits of in this life, 3) God's will; 4) karma of other people present in a particular situation; and 5) chance (i.e., events in which we happen to be present by chance). But he notes that many things in karma are mysteries in creation and humans should leave this question to God until they become God-realized.
Alwar, a Vaishnava devotee, says in his "Mukundamala
Stotra": 'yad yad bhavyam bhavatu bhagavan purva-karma-anurupam'. And purva-karma or bhaagya or daiva is unseen adrsta
by us, and is known only to God as Vidhaataa. God created the law of karma, and God will not violate it. God does, however, give courage and strength if asked.
Notably, these followers believe that 65% of one's life is ruled by destiny per the laws of karma and the other 35% by willful action, e.g., free will
. Thus, they neither believe in the Western view that everything is under our control nor in the extreme Eastern view that everything is preordained. Such similar views on life not being preordained by karma were also held by
Swami Vivekananda
, discussed later.
However, some predestined events due to destiny, depending on the type, may be overcome by intensity of spiritual practice. But certain events such as untimely death, can only be overcome through the grace of an enlightened guru
or God alone as individual spiritual practice is insufficient.
Swami Vivekananda
, a Vedantist
, offers a good example of the worry about free will
in the Hindu tradition.
However, the preceding quote has often been misinterpreted as Vivekananda implying that everything is predetermined. What Vivekananda actually meant by lack of free will was that the will was not "free" because it was heavily influenced by the law of cause and effect—"The will is not free, it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect, but there is something behind the will which is free." Vivekananda never said that things were absolutely determined and placed emphasis on the power of conscious choice to alter one's past karma: "It is the coward and the fool who says this is his fate
. But it is the strong man who stands up and says I will make my own fate."
Similarly, Vivekananda's teacher Ramakrishna Paramahansa, using an analogy said that man is like a cow tied to a pole with a rope—the karmic debts and human nature bind him and the amount of free will he has is analogous to the amount of freedom the rope allows; as one progresses spiritually, the rope becomes longer.
school, one of six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, states that one of the proofs of the existence of God is karma; It is seen that some people in this world are happy, some are in misery. Some are rich and some poor. The Naiyanikas explain this by the concept of karma and reincarnation. The fruit of an individual's actions does not always lie within the reach of the individual who is the agent; there ought to be, therefore, a dispenser of the fruits of actions, and this supreme dispenser is God. This belief of Nyaya, accordingly, is the same as that of Vedanta
.
s, Karma is a principle in which “cause and effect are as inseparably linked in the moral sphere as assumed in the physical sphere by science. A good action has its reward and a bad action leads to retribution. If the bad actions do not yield their consequences in this life, the soul begins another existence and in the new environment undergoes suffering for its past deeds”. Thus it is important to understand that karma does not go away, one must either reap the benefits or suffer the consequences of his past actions. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
states, “According as a man acts and according as he believes so will he be; a man of meritorious acts will be meritorious, a man of evil deeds sinful. He becomes pure by pure deeds and evil by evil deeds. And here they say that person consists of desires. An as is his desire so is his will; and as is his will, so is his deed; and whatever deeds he does that he will reap”. The doctrine of karma dates from ancient times and besides the above author is mentioned in the Gautama dharma-sutra, Shatapatha Brahmana
, Kathaaka-grhya-sutra, Chandogya Upanishad
, Markandeya Purana
and many others.
The shastra
s written about karma go into some detail about possible consequences of karma. There is often talk about coming back as a variety of different object when it comes to reincarnation and pasts lives. In this case, it holds true, or at least insofar as the texts state. The Kathaaka-grhya-sutra states, “some human beings enter the womb in order to have an embodied existence; others go into inorganic matter (the stump of a tree and the like) according to their deeds and according to their knowledge”.
More extensively discussed is the consequences of karma in relation to sin. “Karmavipaka means the ripening (or fruition) of evil actions or sins. This fruition takes three forms, as stated in the Yogasutra II. 3, i.e., jati
(birth as a worm or animal), ayuh (life i.e. living for a short period such as five or ten years) and bhoga (experiencing the torments of Hell”.
There are long lists of birth of lower animals and the diseases and deformities from which sinners suffer. Some authors offer specific ramifications for specific sins. For example, in “the Haritasamhita it is said the killer of a brahmana suffers from white leprosy and the killer of a cow from black leprosy.” While the list is extensive for ways of reducing sin and therefore reducing bad karma, some authors, such as Mitākṣarā, a commentator on the Yājñavalkya Smṛti, believe karma is, “not to be taken literally, but is meant to induce sinner to undergo such prāyaścitta
s or penance as Prajapatya which entail great worry and trouble and which no one might willingly undertake.”
Further the Karmavipaka states, “that no soul need be without hope provided it is prepared to wait and undergo torments for its misdeeds, that it need not be appalled by the numerous existences foreshadowed in those works and that the soul,may in its long passage and evolution, ultimately be able to discover its true greatness and realize eternal peace and perfection.”
, or living virtuously; performing good deeds, such as helping others; bhakti
yoga, or worshiping God in order to receive grace; and conducting pilgrimages to sacred places, such as Chidambaram Temple
or Rameswaram to get grace of God. In another example, Ganesha
can unweave his devotees from their karma, simplifying and purifying their lives, but this only happens after they have established a personal relationship with Him.
Examples of getting God's grace are further illustrated below.
, who was saved from death by Siva
, illustrates that God's grace can overcome Karma and death for His beloved devotee.
In another similar story, Krishna
resurrected his teacher Sandipani
's son from the world of Yama
, the lord of death, by noting that his teacher's son was brought there due to his personal karma, but due to His power and lordship over Yama, brought him back to life. Sandipani was Krishna's teacher during his boyhood days.
The story of Ajamila
in the Bhagavata Purana
also illustrates the same point. Ajamila had committed many evil deeds during his life such as stealing, abandoning his wife and children, and marrying a prostitute. But at the moment of death, he involuntarily chanted the name of Narayana
and therefore received Moksha
or union with God, and was saved from the messengers of Yama
. Ajamila was actually thinking of his youngest son, whose name was also Narayana. But the name of God has powerful effects, and Ajamila was forgiven for his great sins and attained salvation, despite his bad Karma.
7 and 12 aver that the doer of the deeds wanders about and obtains rebirth according to his deeds but postulates an omnipotent creater, i.e., Isvara and the doctrine of grace. Isvara is the great refuge of all and a person attains immortality when blessed by Isvara or at Isvara's pleasure.
A person can be free from sorrow through the grace of Isvara. Therefore, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad postulates a supreme Being whose grace to devotees provides a way of escape from the law of karma.
As Adi Sankara stated in his commentary on Shvetashvatara Upanishad VI:4, "If we dedicate all our works to Ishvara, we will not be subject to the law of karma."
s turn to means of reducing sin, some of which are hard to reconcile with the doctrines of karma. For example, one such practice, Śrāddha
, or as the Brahma Purana
states, “whatever is given with faith to brahmanas intending it to be for the benefit of pitrs
(ancestors) at a proper time, in a proper place, to deserving persons and in accordance with the prescribed procedure” is meant to honor ancestors; however, by contrast, a believer of karma would agree that when the body dies, the soul automatically enters into another body, regardless of whether one performs srāddha for his or her ancestors.
Therefore, in contrast with karma, Kane states that Śrāddha
, “the doctrine of offering balls of rice to three ancestors requires that the spirits of the three ancestors, even after the lapse of 50 or 100 years, are still capable of enjoying in an ethereal body the flavor or essence of rice balls wafted by the wind.” Of course, the two differing views can be reconciled if we take into account the belief of the sastras which state that karma is not to be taken literally. However, as evidenced by the variety of opinions written on this subject, the consistency between differing views on karma will not hold elsewhere.
1.2 asserts that birth in different forms of existence as a worm
, insect
, fish
, bird
, lion
, boar
, snake
or a human
, is determined by a person's deeds and knowledge.
Chandogya Upanishad
5.10.7 distinguishes between good birth such as birth in a spiritual family, i.e., (brahmin
caste) or an evil birth, such as birth as a dog
or hog
.) Thus, the doctrine of karma comes to explain why different life forms manifest, into widely various levels of biological development such as characterization into different species from plant
s to various types of animal
s, and to even differences between members of the same species, such as humans.
Thus, many, such as the Upanishadic readings suggest that birth in a particular caste is in accordance with karma, as those with good deeds are said to be born into a spiritual family, which is synonymous with the brahmana
caste. Good deeds will lead one to be born into a spiritual family where his future destiny will be determined by his behaviour and deeds in the current life. In the Gita, Krishna
said that characteristics of a brahmin
are determined by behavior, not by birth. A verse from the Gita illustrates this point: "The duties of Brahmins, Kshatriya
s, Vaishya
s as also of Sudras, O scorcher of foes, are distributed according to the gunas (behavior) born of their own nature." (Bhagavad Gita 18.41)
Further elaborating on this view as recited in the Gita, Madhvacharya
interprets the concept of Varna (Hinduism), a term designating the division of Hindu society into four social classes based on guna
(attributes) and karma (activity) as not being defined by birth, but rather by the nature of a soul. For example, a soul having the nature of a Brahmin
could be born as a Sudra
and vice versa. The caste system decided by birth, according to him, is actually Jati
, which is a term designating a particular community, and not Varna. The varnas simply define the disposition of the soul; for example,a soul classified as Brahmin varna is disposed towards learning; a Kshatriya
soul is disposed towards administration and a Sudra
soul is disposed towards performing service. Thus, he gave a new interpretation to the caste system as he believed that the caste was related to one's nature than to his or her birth; birth, according to Madhva, was not determinative of varna; a spiritually enlightened chandala
(outcaste) was better than an ignorant Brahmin.
and E. Valentine Daniel, professor of anthropology at Columbia University
state that many Hindus believe that heavenly bodies, including the planets, have an influence throughout the life of a human being, and these planetary influences are the "fruit of karma."
The Navagraha
, planetary deities, including Shani
(Saturn), are considered subordinate to Ishvara
(i.e., the Supreme Being) and are believed by many to assist in the administration of justice. Thus, these planets can influence earthly life.
Such planetary influences are believed by many to be measurable using astrological methods including Jyotiṣa, the Hindu system of astrology.
Thus, karma in Hinduism may mean an activity, an action or a materialistic activity. Often with the specific combination it takes specific meanings, such as karma-yoga or karma-kanda means "yoga or actions" and "path of materialistic activity" respectively. Yet another example is Nitya karma
, which describes rituals which have to be performed daily by Hindus, such as the Sandhyavandanam
which involves chanting of the Gayatri Mantra
.
Other uses include such expressions such as "ugra-karma", meaning bitter, unwholesome labor.
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
is a concept in Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
which explains causality
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
lives forming a cycle of rebirth. The causality is said to be applicable not only to the material world but also to our thoughts, words, actions and actions that others do under our instructions. When the cycle of rebirth comes to an end, a person is said to have attained moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
, or salvation from samsara
Samsara
thumb|right|200px|Traditional Tibetan painting or [[Thanka]] showing the [[wheel of life]] and realms of saṃsāraSaṅsāra or Saṃsāra , , literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other...
. Not all incarnations are human. The cycle of birth and death on earth is said to be formed from 8.4 million forms of life, but only in human life is an exit from this cycle possible.
Origins
The doctrine of transmigration of the soul, with respect to fateful retribution for acts committed, does not appear in the Rig Veda. The concept of karma first appears strongly in the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
.. The topic of karma is mentioned in the Puranas.
Definitions=
"Karma" literally means "deed" or "act", and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, which Hindus believe governs all consciousness. Karma is not fate
Destiny
Destiny or fate refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual...
, for we act with what can be described as a conditioned free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
creating our own destinies. According to the Vedas, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determine our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction. Not all karmas rebound immediately. Some accumulate and return unexpectedly in this or other lifetimes. Human beings are said to produce karma in four ways:
- through thoughts
- through words
- through actions that we perform ourselves
- through actions others perform under our instructions
Everything that we have ever thought, spoken, done or caused is karma, as is also that which we think, speak or do this very moment. Hindu scriptures divide karma into three kinds:
- SanchitaSanchita karmaIn Hinduism, sanchita karma is one of the three kinds of karma. It is the sum of one's past karmas – all actions from one's past life follow through to the next life....
is the accumulated karma. It would be impossible to experience and endure all karmas in one lifetime. From this stock of sanchita karma, a handful is taken out to serve one lifetime and this handful of actions, which have begun to bear fruit and which will be exhausted only on their fruit being enjoyed and not otherwise, is known as prarabdha karma. - PrarabdhaPrarabdha karmaPrarabdha Karma are the part of sanchita karma, a collection of past karmas, which are ready to be experienced through the present body ....
Fruit-bearing karma is the portion of accumulated karma that has "ripened" and appears as a particular problem in the present life. - KriyamanaKriyamana karmaKriyamana karma, in Hinduism, is the karma that human beings are creating in the present, the fruits of which will be experienced in the future.-See also:*Nishkam Karma*Prarabdha karma*Sanchita karma...
is everything that we produce in the current life. All kriyamana karmas flow in to sanchita karma and consequently shape our future. Only in human life we can change our future destiny. After death we lose Kriya Shakti (ability to act) and do (kriyamana) karma until we are born again in another human body.
Actions performed consciously are weighted more heavily than those done unconsciously. On this basis some believe that only human beings who can distinguish right from wrong can do (kriyamana) karma. Therefore animals and young children are considered incapable of creating new karma (and thus cannot affect their future destinies) as they are incapable of discriminating between right and wrong.
This view is explained by the concepts of a Karma-deha ('action' body) and a Bhoga-deha ('completion' body).
The Bhoga-deha refers to a material body that can only expend karma. The soul in a Bhoga-deha body enjoys or suffers the consequences of previous acts, i.e. expends karma. So the Bhoga-deha is considered any non-human body; a plant, animal, insect etc. This body is solely meant for burning off karma. An animal, being under the complete control of Nature (Prakriti) and its influences and energy, is therefore regarded as being unable to create new (kriyaman) karma.
The Karma-deha refers to the human body. It is in the human body that we can, and do, create karma. It is in the human body that we are held responsible for our actions owing to the fact that we can exercise choice based on developed intelligence. The only way to break the cycle of material existence is through the human form, the karma-deha, but it is in the human form that we are most likely to create negative karma, thus throwing us back into a bhoga-deha body and keeping us bound in Samsara.
However, all sentient beings can feel the effects of karma, which are experienced as pleasure and pain. And just as poison affects us even if taken unknowingly, suffering caused unintentionally will also create an appropriate karmic effect.
Tulsidas
Tulsidas
Tulsidas , was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher renowned for his devotion for the god Rama...
, a Hindu saint, said: "Our destiny was shaped long before the body came into being." As long as the stock of sanchita karma lasts, a part of it continues to be taken out as prarabdha karma for being enjoyed in one lifetime, leading to the cycle of birth and death. A Jiva
Jiva
In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence of a living organism which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual 'living entity' or 'living...
cannot attain moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
(liberation) from the cycle of birth and death, until the accumulated sanchita karmas are completely exhausted.
The cycle of birth and death on earth is formed from 8.4 million forms of life, only one of which is human. Only as humans are we in position to do something about our destiny by doing the right thing at the right time. Through positive actions, pure thoughts, prayer, mantras and meditation, we can resolve the influence of karma in the present life and turn our destiny for the better. A spiritual master knowing the sequence in which our karma will bear fruit can help us. As humans we have the opportunity to speed up our spiritual progress with the practice of good karma. We produce negative karma because we lack knowledge and clarity.
Unkindness yields spoiled fruits, called paap, and good deeds bring forth sweet fruits, called punya. As one acts, so does one become: one becomes virtuous by virtuous action, and evil by evil action.
The role of divine forces
Several different views exist in Hinduism, some extant today and some historical, regarding the role of divine beings in controlling the effects of karma or the lack thereof.Vedanta view
Followers of VedantaVedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
, a leading practicing school of Hinduism in existence today, consider Ishvara
Ishvara
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller in a theistic school of thought or the Supreme Being, or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought.-Etymology:...
, a personal supreme God, as playing that role.
According to the Vedanta view, a supreme God is ultimately the enforcer of karma but humans have the free will to choose good or evil.
In these theistic schools, karma is not seen merely as a law of cause and effect, a view espoused by Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
or Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
, for example, but dependent on the will of a personal supreme God. Examples of a personal supreme God include Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
in Shaivism
Shaivism
Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer,...
or Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
in Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
. A good summary of this theistic view of karma is expressed by the following: "God does not make one suffer for no reason nor does He make one happy for no reason. God is very fair and gives you exactly what you deserve." Thus, the theistic schools emphasize that karma is one explanation for the problem of human suffering; a soul reincarnates into an appropriate body, which is dependent on karma and this is said to explain why some persons never get to see the fruits of their actions in their lives and why some children die when they have committed no sin. Thus, one must reap the fruits of one's personal karma and one may need to undergo multiple births, incarnating variously as plant, animal, or human. Such fruits of karma may be analogized to a bank (i.e., God) not letting a person be released from karma's effects until the bank account is settled.
Samkhya view
In some earlier historical traditions of Hinduism, followers of an atheistic division of the SamkhyaSamkhya
Samkhya, also Sankhya, Sāṃkhya, or Sāṅkhya is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy and classical Indian philosophy. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered as the founder of the Samkhya school, although no historical verification is possible...
school, do not accept the idea of a supreme God. According to the Samkya school, a supreme God does not exist but lesser highly evolved beings assist in delivering the fruits of karma;
thus,they consider devas
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
or spirits as playing some kind of role. These beings can help to deliver well-being in the temporal world and the after cycles of birth and death, and salvation as well.
Mimamsa view
Earlier historical traditions of Hinduism such as MimamsaMimamsa
' , a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation" , is the name of an astika school of Hindu philosophy whose primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas...
kas, reject any such notions of divinity being responsible and see karma as acting independently, considering the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma. According to their view, neither supreme God nor does lesser divinities exist; rituals alone yield the fruits of karma; thus, they believe that the karmas (rituals) themselves yield the results, and there is no Supreme God or Ishvara or even lesser divinities dispensing the results.
Vedanta's refutations
These differing views are explicitly noted in a series of passes in the Brahma SutrasBrahma Sutras
The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...
(III.2.38-40), an important text in Vedanta, the major school of Hinduism, which endorses the concept of Ishvara i.e., a personal supreme God, as the source of fruits of karma, but note opposing views in order to refute them. For example, Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism...
's commentary on verse III.2.38 from the Brahma Sutras refers to the role of Ishvara (the Lord) as the dispenser of the fruits of karma. A commentary by Swami Vireswarananda on the same verse says that the purpose of this verse is specifically to refute the views of the Mimamsa
Mimamsa
' , a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation" , is the name of an astika school of Hindu philosophy whose primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas...
kas, who say that karma (work) and not Ishvara, gives the fruits of one's actions. According to the Mimamsakas it is useless to set up an Ishvara for that purpose, since Karma itself can give the result at a future time.
Gita interpretations and role of Guru
Some interpretations of the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
suggest an intermediate view, that karma is a law of cause and effect yet God can mitigate karma for His devotees. However, another interpretation of verses in the Bhagavad Gita suggest that God alone is the ultimate enforcer of karma.
Another view holds that a Sadguru, acting on God's behalf, can mitigate or work out some of the karma of the disciple.
Vedanta
Theistic schools of Hinduism such as VedantaVedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
disagree with the Buddhist views, Jain views and other Hindu views that karma is merely a law of cause and effect but instead additionally hold that karma is mediated by the will of a personal supreme God.
Sankara (Advaita)
In a commentary to Brahma SutrasBrahma Sutras
The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...
(III, 2, 38, and 41), a Vedantic text, Adi Sankara,an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta,argues that the original karmic actions themselves cannot bring about the proper results at some future time; neither can super sensuous, non-intelligent qualities like adrsta
Adrsta
Adrsta is a concept in Indian philosophy often confused with Karma. Whereas karma can be seen as a direct result of one's own actions, Adrsta is more akin to the notion of fate or destiny...
—an unseen force being the metaphysical link between work and its result—by themselves mediate the appropriate, justly deserved pleasure and pain. The fruits, according to him, then, must be administered through the action of a conscious agent, namely, a supreme being (Ishvara
Ishvara
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller in a theistic school of thought or the Supreme Being, or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought.-Etymology:...
).
A human's karmic acts result in merits and demerits. Since unconscious things generally do not move except when caused by an agent (for example, the ax moves only when swung by an agent), and since the law of karma is an unintelligent and unconscious law, Sankara argues there must be a conscious God who knows the merits and demerits which persons have earned by their actions, and who functions as an instrumental cause in helping individuals reap their appropriate fruits. Thus, God affects the person's environment, even to its atoms, and for those souls who reincarnate, produces the appropriate rebirth body, all in order that the person might have the karmically appropriate experiences. Thus, there must be a theistic administrator or supervisor for karma, i.e., God.
Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism...
, an Advaita scholar, reiterates the same views in his commentary synthesising Vedanta views on the Brahma Sutras
Brahma Sutras
The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...
. In his commentary on Chapter 3 of the Brahma Sutras, Sivananda notes that karma is insentient and short-lived, and ceases to exist as soon as a deed is executed. Hence, karma cannot bestow the fruits of actions at a future date according to one's merit. Furthermore, one cannot argue that karma generates apurva or punya, which gives fruit. Since apurva is non-sentient, it cannot act unless moved by an intelligent being such as God. It cannot independently bestow reward or punishment.
There is a passage from Swami Sivananda's translation of the Svetasvatara Upanishad (4:6) illustrating this concept:
- Two birds of beautiful plumage — inseparable friends — live on the same tree. Of these two one eats the sweet fruit while the other looks on without eating.
In his commentary, the first bird represents the individual soul, while the second represents Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
or God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. The soul is essentially a reflection of Brahman. The tree represents the body. The soul identifies itself with the body, reaps the fruits of its actions, and undergoes rebirth. The Lord alone stands as an eternal witness, ever contented, and does not eat, for he is the director of both the eater and the eaten.
Swami Sivananda also notes that God is free from charges of partiality and cruelty which are brought against him because of social inequality
Social inequality
Social inequality refers to a situation in which individual groups in a society do not have equal social status. Areas of potential social inequality include voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, the extent of property rights and access to education, health care, quality housing and other...
, fate, and universal suffering
Suffering
Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, is an individual's basic affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm. Suffering may be qualified as physical or mental. It may come in all degrees of intensity, from mild to intolerable. Factors of duration and...
in the world. According to the Brahma Sutras
Brahma Sutras
The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...
, individual souls are responsible for their own fate; God is merely the dispenser and witness with reference to the merit and demerit of souls.
In his commentary on Chapter 2 of the Brahma Sutras, Sivananda further notes that the position of God with respect to karma can be explained through the analogy of rain. Although rain can be said to bring about the growth of rice, barley and other plants, the differences in various species is due to the diverse potentalities lying hidden in the respective seeds. Thus, Sivananda explains that differences between classes of beings are due to different merits belonging to individual souls. He concludes that God metes rewards and punishments only in consideration of the specific actions of beings.
Other schools of Vedanta
Treatment of karma in other schools of Vedanta are discussed in the section on VaishnavismVaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
.
Thirugnana Sambanthar
Shaiva Siddhanta
Considered normative tantric Saivism, Shaiva Siddhanta provides the normative rites, cosmology and theological categories of tantric Saivism. Being a dualistic philosophy, the goal of Shaiva Siddhanta is to become an ontologically distinct Shiva . This tradition was once practiced all over India...
school, in the 7th century C.E., writes about karma in his outline of Saivism. He explains the concept of karma in Hinduism by distinguishing it from that of Buddhism and Jainism, which do not require the existence of an external being like God. In their beliefs, just as a calf among a large number of cows can find its mother at suckling time, so also does karma find the specific individual it needs to attach to and come to fruition. However, theistic Hindus posit that karma, unlike the calf, is an unintelligent entity.
Hence, karma cannot locate the appropriate person by itself. Shri Sambantha concludes that an intelligent Supreme Being
Supreme Being
The term Supreme Being is often defined simply as "God", and it is used with this meaning by theologians of many religious faiths, including, but not limited to, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Deism. However, the term can also refer to more complex or philosophical interpretations of the...
with perfect wisdom and power (Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, for example) is necessary to make karma attach to the appropriate individual.
In such sense, God is the Divine Accountant.
Appaya Dikshita
Appaya Dikshita, a Saivite theologian and proponent of Siva Advaita, states that Siva (God) only awards happiness and misery in accordance with the law of karma. Thus persons themselves perform good or evil actions according to their own inclinations as acquired in past creations, and in accordance with those deeds, a new creation is made for the fulfilment of the law of karma. Shaivas believe that there are cycles of creations in which souls gravitate to specific bodies in accordance with karma, which as an unintelligent object depends on the will of Siva alone. Thus, many interpret the caste system in accordance with karma, as those with good deeds are born into a highly spiritual family (probably the brahmana caste).Srikantha
Srikantha, another Saivite theologian and proponent of Siva Advaita, believes that individual souls themselves do things which may be regarded as the cause of their particular actions, or desisting from particular actions, in accordance with the nature of the fruition of their past deeds. Srikantha further believes that Siva only helps a person when he wishes to act in a particular way or to desist from a particular action. Regarding the view that karma produce their own effects directly, Srikantha holds that karma being without any intelligence cannot be expected to produce manifold effects through various births and various bodies; rather fruits of one's karma can be performed only by the will of God operating in consonance with man's free will, or as determined in later stages by man's own karma so the prints of all karma are distributed in the proper order by the grace of God ShivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
). In this way, God is ultimately responsible on one hand for our actions, and on the other for enjoyment and suffering in accordance with our karmas, without any prejudice to humans' moral responsibility as expressed through free will or as determined later by our own deeds. A good summary of his view is that "man is responsible, free to act as he wills to, for Siva only fulfills needs according to the soul's karma."
Bhagavata Purana
In Chapter 1 of 10th book of the Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
, Vasudeva
Vasudeva
In Hindu itihasa , Vasudeva is the father of Krishna, the son of Shoorsen, of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties. His sister Kunti was married to Pandu. He was a partial incarnation of Rishi Kashyap....
, the father of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, exhorts Kamsa
Kamsa
In Hinduism, Kamsa or Kansa , often known as Kans in Hindi, is the brother of Devaki, and ruler of the Vrishni kingdom with its capital at Mathura. His father was King Ugrasena and mother was Queen Padmavati...
to refrain from killing his wife, Devaki
Devaki
In Hinduism, Devaki is the wife of Vasudeva and biological mother of Krishna.She was the daughter of Devaka, the younger brother of King Ugrasena of Mathura. She was a partial incarnation of Aditi, the mother of the Devas.-Imprisonment :...
, the mother of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, by stating that death is certain for those who are born and when the body returns to the five elements, the soul leaves the body and helplessly obtains another form in accordance with the laws of karma, citing passages from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
The Upanishad is one of the older, "primary" Upanishads. It is contained within the Shatapatha Brahmana, and its status as an independent Upanishad may be considered a secondary extraction of a portion of the Brahmana text. This makes it one of the oldest texts of the Upanishad corpus...
, IV:4:3. Moreover, he adds and states that the soul materializes into an appropriate body whatever the state of the mind one remembers at the time of death; i.e., at the time of the death, the soul and its subtle body of mind, intelligence and ego, is projected into the womb of a creature, human or non-human that can provide a gross body that is most suitable for the dominant state of the mind of the particular person at the time of death; note that this passage is similar in meaning as Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, VIII, verse 6 Such commentaries were provided by Edwin Bryant, Associate Professor of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Vishnu Sahasranama
Many names in the Vishnu Sahasranama
Vishnu sahasranama
The Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
, the thousand names of Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
allude to the power of God in controlling karma. For example, the 135th name of Vishnu, Dharmadhyaksha, in the Advaita philosopher Sankara's interpretation means, "One who directly sees the merits (Dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
) and demerits (Adharma
Adharma
Adharma is the Sanskrit antonym of Dharma. It means 'that which is not in accord with the law' - referring to both the human written law and the divinely given law of nature. Connotations include unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, wickedness, or vice....
), of beings by bestowing their due rewards on them."
Other names of Vishnu alluding to this nature of God are Bhavanah, the 32nd name, Vidhata, the 44th name, Apramattah, the 325th name, Sthanadah, the 387th name and Srivibhavanah, the 609th name. Bhavanah, according to Sankara's interpretation, means "One who generates the fruits of Karmas of all Jiva
Jiva
In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence of a living organism which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual 'living entity' or 'living...
s (souls) for them to enjoy." The Brahma Sutra (3.2.28) "Phalmatah upapatteh" speaks of the Lord's function as the bestower of the fruits of all actions of the jiva
Jiva
In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence of a living organism which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual 'living entity' or 'living...
s.
Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita)
RamanujaRamanuja
Ramanuja ; traditionally 1017–1137, also known as Ramanujacharya, Ethirajar , Emperumannar, Lakshmana Muni, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete...
of the Vishishtadvaita
Vishishtadvaita
Vishishtadvaita Vedanta is a sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy, the other major sub-schools of Vedānta being Advaita, Dvaita, and Achintya-Bheda-Abheda. VishishtAdvaita is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy...
school, another sub-school of Vedanta, addresses the problem of evil by attributing all evil things in life to the accumulation of evil karma of jiva
Jiva
In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence of a living organism which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual 'living entity' or 'living...
s (souls in bondage to a corporeal form) and maintains that God is amala, or without any stain of evil.
In Sri Bhasya
Sri Bhasya
The Sri Bhasya is the most famous work of Sri Ramanuja, . It is his commentary on Sri Badarayana's Vedanta Sutra. It was completed when he was around a hundred years old...
, Ramanuja's interpretation of the Brahma sutras from a Vaishnavite theistic view, Brahman, whom he conceives as Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
, arranges the diversity of creation in accordance with the different karma of individual souls.
Ramanuja, in Sri Bhasya 1.1.1., reiterates that inequality and diversity in the world are due to the fruits of karma of different souls and the omnipresent energy of the soul suffers pain or pleasure due to its karma. The distinction between the fruits of karma, i.e., good and evil karma, are due to Vishnu as the supreme Enforcer of karma yet souls alone have the freedom and responsibility for their acts.
Furthermore, Ramanuja believes that Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
wishing to do a favour to those who are resolved on acting so as fully to please Him, engenders in their minds a tendency towards highly virtuous actions, such as means to attain to Him; while on the other hand, in order to punish those who are resolved on lines of action altogether displeasing to Him, He engenders in their minds a delight in such actions as have a downward tendency and are obstacles in the way of the attainment of God.
Madhva (Dvaita)
MadhvaMadhvacharya
Madhvācārya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda "Philosophy of Reality", popularly known as the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedānta philosophies. Madhvācārya was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in...
, the founder of the Dvaita
Dvaita
Dvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....
school, another sub-school of Vedanta,on the other hand, believes that there must be a root cause for variations in karma even if karma is accepted as having no beginning and being the cause of the problem of evil. Since jivas have different kinds of karma, from good to bad, all must not have started with same type of karma from the beginning of time. Thus, Madhva concludes that the jiva
Jiva
In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence of a living organism which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual 'living entity' or 'living...
s (souls) are not God's creation as in the Christian doctrine, but are rather entities co-existent with Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
, although under His absolute control. Souls are thus dependent on Him in their pristine nature and in all transformations that they may undergo.
According to Madhva, God, although He has control, does not interfere with Man's free will; although He is omnipotent, that does not mean that He engages in extraordinary feats. Rather, God enforces a rule of law and, in accordance with the just deserts of jivas, gives them freedom to follow their own nature. Thus, God functions as the sanctioner or as the divine accountant, and accordingly jivas are free to work according to their innate nature and their accumulated karma, good and bad. Since God acts as the sanctioner, the ultimate power for everything comes from God and the jiva only utilizes that power, according to his/her innate nature. However, like Shankara
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
's interpretation of the Brahma Sutras
Brahma Sutras
The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...
as mentioned earlier, Madhva, agrees that the rewards and punishments bestowed by God are regulated by Him in accordance with the good and sinful deeds performed by them, and He does so of out of His own will to keep himself firm in justice and he cannot be controlled in His actions by karma of human beings nor can He be accused of partiality or cruelty to anyone.
Swami Tapasyananda
Tapasyananda
Swami Tapasyananda was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was a disciple of Swami Shivananda, one of the eminent disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The Swami was a vice-president of the Ramakrishna Order from 1985-1991. He was an erudite scholar in Indian and Western philosophy. He has to his...
further explains the Madhva view by illustrating the doctrine with this analogy: the power in a factory comes from the powerhouse (God), but the various cogs (jivas) move in a direction in which they are set. Thus he concludes that no charge of partiality and cruelty can be brought against God. The jiva is the actor and also the enjoyer of the fruits of his/her own actions.
Madhva differed significantly from traditional Hindu beliefs, owing to his concept of eternal
Eternity
While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existence for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside time. By contrast, infinite temporal existence is then called sempiternity. Something eternal exists outside time; by contrast,...
damnation
Damnation
Damnation is the concept of everlasting divine punishment and/or disgrace, especially the punishment for sin as threatened by God . A damned being "in damnation" is said to be either in Hell, or living in a state wherein they are divorced from Heaven and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor...
. For example, he divides souls into three classes: one class of souls which qualify for liberation (Mukti-yogyas
Mukti-yogyas
In Dvaita theology, Mukti-yogyas is a class of souls classified by Shri Madhvacharya as eligible for mukti or moksha. Madhva divides souls into three classes: one class of souls which qualify for liberation , another subject to eternal rebirth or eternal transmigration , and a third class that is...
), another subject to eternal rebirth or eternal transmigration (Nitya-samsarins
Nitya-samsarins
In Dvaita theology, Nitya-samsarins, as classified by Shri Madhvacharya, are souls which are eternally transmigrating.Madhva divides souls into three classes: one class of souls which qualify for liberation , another subject to eternal rebirth or eternal transmigration , and a third class that is...
), and a third class that is eventually condemned to eternal hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
or Andhatamas (Tamo-yogyas
Tamo-yogyas
In Dvaita theology, this group of souls, classified by Shri Madhvacharya, consists of souls who are the damnable. Madhva divides souls into three classes: one class of souls which qualify for liberation , another subject to eternal rebirth or eternal transmigration , and a third class that is...
). No other Hindu philosopher or school of Hinduism holds such beliefs. In contrast, most Hindus believe in universal salvation: that all souls will eventually obtain moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
, even if it is after millions of rebirths.
Gaudiya Vaishnavism view
"According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of KrishnaKrishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
. By the mercy of both Krsna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service." (C.C.Madhya 19-151-164)
"Jnanis, yogis and karmis devoid of devotional service are called offenders.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, mayavadi krishne aparadhi: one who thinks that everything is maya
Maya (illusion)
Maya , in Indian religions, has multiple meanings, usually quoted as "illusion", centered on the fact that we do not experience the environment itself but rather a projection of it, created by us. Maya is the principal deity that manifests, perpetuates and governs the illusion and dream of duality...
instead of thinking that everything is Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
is called an aparadhi, or offender."
"Karma refers in the broadest sense to any activity, but it often means activities performed within the bounds of Vedic injunctions with the intention of enjoying the results. (Another term, vikarma, is used for activity forbidden by the Vedas.) So karma, although having religious stature, is still material. The karmi is interested in rewards like money, sense pleasure, and fame in this life, and he also seeks promotion to higher planets in the next life. The great defect of karma is that it always results in reactions, which force the karmi to take another material birth by the process of transmigration of the soul.
Therefore, whether "good" or "bad," pious or impious, all karma keeps one bound within the cycle of birth and death."
The difficult question why some people are born into more and others into less suffering (problem of evil
Problem of evil
In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...
) is answered by explaining that people reincarnate according to the law of karma. Everybody is enjoying and suffering the reactions of his/her own previous deeds. God wants voluntary, spontaneous love and service, not mechanic execution of orders. This implies the necessity of free will of the individual and as such the possibility to misuse free will. The law of karma does not mean doom to eternal material life, because God is beyond karma and can free those who want to serve Him purely. A pure devotee attains the transcendental eternal abode of God, where there is no evil and sufferings, because all people there are spontaneously serving God. There is no negative karma in the abode of God because there is no negative thought there, what to speak of negative action.
Swaminarayan view
In the Swaminarayan sect followed by many in the Indian state of Gujarat, their spiritual leader, Lord Swaminarayan stated that karma is not to be confused as the giver of the fruits of our actions. In His VachanamrutVachanamrut
The Vachanamrut of Swaminarayan is a foundational scripture of the Swaminarayan faith. It is considered one of the most sacred scriptures by Swaminarayan followers...
, a foundational scripture of the Swaminarayan faith, Lord Swãminãrayan says, “Just as when seeds which are planted in the earth sprout upwards after coming into contact with rainwater, similarly, during the period of creation, the jiva
Jiva
In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence of a living organism which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual 'living entity' or 'living...
s which had resided within maya
Maya (illusion)
Maya , in Indian religions, has multiple meanings, usually quoted as "illusion", centered on the fact that we do not experience the environment itself but rather a projection of it, created by us. Maya is the principal deity that manifests, perpetuates and governs the illusion and dream of duality...
together with their kãran sharir (causal body), attain various types of bodies according to their individual karmas by the will of God, the giver of the fruits of karmas.” (Vartãl 6)
So, thus, just as in other theistic schools of Hinduism, followers of the Swaminaryan faith believe that God is the giver of the fruits of our actions. Although people may think that God is cruel when He dispenses the fruits of bad actions, this is not the case. God, in fact, is impartial towards all. The Brahma Sutras
Brahma Sutras
The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...
by Veda Vyasa say, “God is not biased in giving happiness and misery to anyone but gives the fruits of one’s karmas.” (2-1-34) However, unlike general schools of Hinduism, the Swaminarayan followers believe in Lord Swaminarayan as the supreme God, which is not believed by followers of Hinduism.
Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj
Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj, suggests that karma is generally fixed and humans reap the fruits of their actions; he notes that not even God violates the law of karma; Shri Maharajji cites two prime examples: the Pandavas suffered immensely, even though they were great devotees of Lord KrishnaKrishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
; even though Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
's Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
Rama was the child of Dasharatha and Kausalya
Kausalya
Kausalya in the Indian Rāmāyaṇa epic was the eldest of King Daśaratha's three wives and a queen of Ayodhyā, she was the daughter of the King of the Kosala Kingdom. She was the mother of Rama, the king of Ayodhya, upon whom the story of the Ramayana is based....
, Kausalya became a widow upon Dasharatha's death, yet He did not interfere to remove their miseries.
However, Shri Maharajji also notes that the results of one's karma is dependent on many factors: 1) prarabdha karma
Prarabdha karma
Prarabdha Karma are the part of sanchita karma, a collection of past karmas, which are ready to be experienced through the present body ....
, or fixed karma that is to be experienced in this life; 2) kriyamana karma
Kriyamana karma
Kriyamana karma, in Hinduism, is the karma that human beings are creating in the present, the fruits of which will be experienced in the future.-See also:*Nishkam Karma*Prarabdha karma*Sanchita karma...
, which are actions we perform and reap the fruits of in this life, 3) God's will; 4) karma of other people present in a particular situation; and 5) chance (i.e., events in which we happen to be present by chance). But he notes that many things in karma are mysteries in creation and humans should leave this question to God until they become God-realized.
Other Vaishnavite thoughts
KulashekharaKulashekhara
Kulasekara Varman also known as Kulashekhara Alwar was the founder and King of the Later Chera Kingdom from 800 AD until his departure from public life, a devotional Vaishnavism poet and one of the 12 celebrated Alwars.The initial territories of Kulasekhara Varman included Kudamalainadu only...
Alwar, a Vaishnava devotee, says in his "Mukundamala
Mukundamala
Mukundamala is a poem in Sanskrit written by Kulashekhara Alvar, one of the last kings of the Chera dynasty in Kerala, and the 9th Alvar c.1100CE. It is written in the style of Bhakti saints and asks Mukunda, another name for Krishna, to give the unworthy author freedom from Samsara...
Stotra": 'yad yad bhavyam bhavatu bhagavan purva-karma-anurupam'. And purva-karma or bhaagya or daiva is unseen adrsta
Adrsta
Adrsta is a concept in Indian philosophy often confused with Karma. Whereas karma can be seen as a direct result of one's own actions, Adrsta is more akin to the notion of fate or destiny...
by us, and is known only to God as Vidhaataa. God created the law of karma, and God will not violate it. God does, however, give courage and strength if asked.
Other viewpoints
Like Hindu followers, the Spiritual Science Research Foundation believes that "every positive deed generates a ‘merit’ while every negative deed generates a ‘demerit’ or a sin and thus one has to reap the results of one’s actions according to the law of karma."Notably, these followers believe that 65% of one's life is ruled by destiny per the laws of karma and the other 35% by willful action, e.g., free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
. Thus, they neither believe in the Western view that everything is under our control nor in the extreme Eastern view that everything is preordained. Such similar views on life not being preordained by karma were also held by
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
, discussed later.
However, some predestined events due to destiny, depending on the type, may be overcome by intensity of spiritual practice. But certain events such as untimely death, can only be overcome through the grace of an enlightened guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
or God alone as individual spiritual practice is insufficient.
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
, a Vedantist
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
, offers a good example of the worry about free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
in the Hindu tradition.
However, the preceding quote has often been misinterpreted as Vivekananda implying that everything is predetermined. What Vivekananda actually meant by lack of free will was that the will was not "free" because it was heavily influenced by the law of cause and effect—"The will is not free, it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect, but there is something behind the will which is free." Vivekananda never said that things were absolutely determined and placed emphasis on the power of conscious choice to alter one's past karma: "It is the coward and the fool who says this is his fate
Destiny
Destiny or fate refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual...
. But it is the strong man who stands up and says I will make my own fate."
Similarly, Vivekananda's teacher Ramakrishna Paramahansa, using an analogy said that man is like a cow tied to a pole with a rope—the karmic debts and human nature bind him and the amount of free will he has is analogous to the amount of freedom the rope allows; as one progresses spiritually, the rope becomes longer.
Nyaya
The NyayaNyaya
' is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic...
school, one of six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, states that one of the proofs of the existence of God is karma; It is seen that some people in this world are happy, some are in misery. Some are rich and some poor. The Naiyanikas explain this by the concept of karma and reincarnation. The fruit of an individual's actions does not always lie within the reach of the individual who is the agent; there ought to be, therefore, a dispenser of the fruits of actions, and this supreme dispenser is God. This belief of Nyaya, accordingly, is the same as that of Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
.
Dharmaśāstras
In Hinduism, more particularly the DharmaśāstraDharmasastra
Dharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic...
s, Karma is a principle in which “cause and effect are as inseparably linked in the moral sphere as assumed in the physical sphere by science. A good action has its reward and a bad action leads to retribution. If the bad actions do not yield their consequences in this life, the soul begins another existence and in the new environment undergoes suffering for its past deeds”. Thus it is important to understand that karma does not go away, one must either reap the benefits or suffer the consequences of his past actions. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
The Upanishad is one of the older, "primary" Upanishads. It is contained within the Shatapatha Brahmana, and its status as an independent Upanishad may be considered a secondary extraction of a portion of the Brahmana text. This makes it one of the oldest texts of the Upanishad corpus...
states, “According as a man acts and according as he believes so will he be; a man of meritorious acts will be meritorious, a man of evil deeds sinful. He becomes pure by pure deeds and evil by evil deeds. And here they say that person consists of desires. An as is his desire so is his will; and as is his will, so is his deed; and whatever deeds he does that he will reap”. The doctrine of karma dates from ancient times and besides the above author is mentioned in the Gautama dharma-sutra, Shatapatha Brahmana
Shatapatha Brahmana
The Shatapatha Brahmana is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina and Kanva , with the former having the eponymous 100 adhyayas,7624 kandikas in 14 books, and the latter 104 adhyayas,6806 kandikas in 17...
, Kathaaka-grhya-sutra, Chandogya Upanishad
Chandogya Upanishad
The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the "primary" Upanishads. Together with the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it ranks among the oldest Upanishads, dating to the Vedic Brahmana period....
, Markandeya Purana
Markandeya Purana
The Markandeya Purana is one of the major eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. It is written in the style of a dialogue between the ancient sage Markandeya and Jaimini, a disciple of Vyasa.-Contents:...
and many others.
The shastra
Shastra
' is a Sanskrit term used to denote rules in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the context of technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice; e.g., Bhautika Shastra , Rasayana Shastra , Jeeva Shastra , Vastu Shastra , Shilpa Shastra , Artha Shastra ' is a...
s written about karma go into some detail about possible consequences of karma. There is often talk about coming back as a variety of different object when it comes to reincarnation and pasts lives. In this case, it holds true, or at least insofar as the texts state. The Kathaaka-grhya-sutra states, “some human beings enter the womb in order to have an embodied existence; others go into inorganic matter (the stump of a tree and the like) according to their deeds and according to their knowledge”.
More extensively discussed is the consequences of karma in relation to sin. “Karmavipaka means the ripening (or fruition) of evil actions or sins. This fruition takes three forms, as stated in the Yogasutra II. 3, i.e., jati
Jati (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, Jāti refers to the arising of a new living entity in saṃsāra.-Truth of suffering:As with "Old Age & Death" , the Buddha includes "Birth" in the canonical description of "suffering" in the First Noble Truth:Elsewhere in the canon the Buddha further elaborates:The canon additionally...
(birth as a worm or animal), ayuh (life i.e. living for a short period such as five or ten years) and bhoga (experiencing the torments of Hell”.
There are long lists of birth of lower animals and the diseases and deformities from which sinners suffer. Some authors offer specific ramifications for specific sins. For example, in “the Haritasamhita it is said the killer of a brahmana suffers from white leprosy and the killer of a cow from black leprosy.” While the list is extensive for ways of reducing sin and therefore reducing bad karma, some authors, such as Mitākṣarā, a commentator on the Yājñavalkya Smṛti, believe karma is, “not to be taken literally, but is meant to induce sinner to undergo such prāyaścitta
Prayascitta
Prāyaścitta is the Hindu term for penance and, along with vyavahāra and ācāra makes up the dharmaśāstra. It is the word used for the portion of Hindu law and the dharmaśāstra that has to do with the expiation of sins...
s or penance as Prajapatya which entail great worry and trouble and which no one might willingly undertake.”
Further the Karmavipaka states, “that no soul need be without hope provided it is prepared to wait and undergo torments for its misdeeds, that it need not be appalled by the numerous existences foreshadowed in those works and that the soul,may in its long passage and evolution, ultimately be able to discover its true greatness and realize eternal peace and perfection.”
Mitigation of bad karma
According to a theistic view, the effects of one's bad karma may be mitigated. Examples of how bad karma can be mitigated include following dharmaDharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
, or living virtuously; performing good deeds, such as helping others; bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
yoga, or worshiping God in order to receive grace; and conducting pilgrimages to sacred places, such as Chidambaram Temple
Chidambaram Temple
Thillai Natarajah Temple, Chidambaram is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in the town of Chidambaram, East-Central Tamil Nadu, South India. The temple is known as the foremost of all temples to Saivites and has influenced worship, architecture, sculpture and performance art for over two...
or Rameswaram to get grace of God. In another example, Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
can unweave his devotees from their karma, simplifying and purifying their lives, but this only happens after they have established a personal relationship with Him.
Examples of getting God's grace are further illustrated below.
Puranas
The story of MarkandeyaMarkandeya
Markandeya is an ancient rishi from the Hindu tradition, born in the clan of Bhrigu Rishi. He is celebrated as a devotee of both Shiva and Vishnu and is mentioned in a number of stories from the Puranas...
, who was saved from death by Siva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, illustrates that God's grace can overcome Karma and death for His beloved devotee.
In another similar story, Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
resurrected his teacher Sandipani
Sandipani
Sandipani, which means "Sage of Gods", was a guru of Lord Krishna. Sandipani was a rishi/muni/saint of Ujjain, previously known as Avantipura....
's son from the world of Yama
Yama
Yama , also known as Yamarāja in India and Nepal, Shinje in Tibet, Yanluowang or simply Yan in China, Yeomla Daewang in South Korea and Enma Dai-Ō in Japan, is the lord of death, in Hinduism and then adopted into Buddhism and then further into Chinese mythology and Japanese mythology. First...
, the lord of death, by noting that his teacher's son was brought there due to his personal karma, but due to His power and lordship over Yama, brought him back to life. Sandipani was Krishna's teacher during his boyhood days.
The story of Ajamila
Ajamila
Ajamila is a figure from the Puranas. The story of Ajamila is taken from Bhagavata Purana Canto 6.Ajamila was raised according to the Vedic regulations...
in the Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
also illustrates the same point. Ajamila had committed many evil deeds during his life such as stealing, abandoning his wife and children, and marrying a prostitute. But at the moment of death, he involuntarily chanted the name of Narayana
Narayana
Narayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
and therefore received Moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
or union with God, and was saved from the messengers of Yama
Yama (Hinduism)
Yama is the lord of death in Hinduism, first recorded in the Vedas. Yama belongs to an early stratum of Indo-Iranian theology. In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes, thus in virtue of precedence he became the ruler...
. Ajamila was actually thinking of his youngest son, whose name was also Narayana. But the name of God has powerful effects, and Ajamila was forgiven for his great sins and attained salvation, despite his bad Karma.
Upanishads
Shvetashvatara UpanishadShvetashvatara Upanishad
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is one of the older, "primary" Upanishads. It is associated with the Krishna Yajurveda. It figures as number 14 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads...
7 and 12 aver that the doer of the deeds wanders about and obtains rebirth according to his deeds but postulates an omnipotent creater, i.e., Isvara and the doctrine of grace. Isvara is the great refuge of all and a person attains immortality when blessed by Isvara or at Isvara's pleasure.
A person can be free from sorrow through the grace of Isvara. Therefore, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad postulates a supreme Being whose grace to devotees provides a way of escape from the law of karma.
As Adi Sankara stated in his commentary on Shvetashvatara Upanishad VI:4, "If we dedicate all our works to Ishvara, we will not be subject to the law of karma."
Dharmaśāstras
The DharmaśāstraDharmasastra
Dharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning, pertaining to Hindu dharma, religious and legal duty. The voluminous textual corpus of Dharmaśāstra is primarily a product of the Brahmanical tradition in India and represents the elaborate scholastic...
s turn to means of reducing sin, some of which are hard to reconcile with the doctrines of karma. For example, one such practice, Śrāddha
Śrāddha
Śrāddha or Shraaddha is a Sanskrit word which literally means anything or any act that is performed with all sincerity and faith . In the Hindu religion, it is the ritual that one performs to pay homage to one’s 'ancestors' , especially to one’s dead parents...
, or as the Brahma Purana
Brahma Purana
The Brahma Purana is one of the major eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. The extant text comprises 246 chapters. It is divided into two parts, namely the Purvabhaga and the Uttarabhaga . The first part narrates the story behind the creation of the cosmos, details the life and...
states, “whatever is given with faith to brahmanas intending it to be for the benefit of pitrs
Pitrs
The Pitṛs , are the spirits of the departed ancestors in Hindu culture.They are often remembered annually.It is a Hindu's duty to his ancestors to beget at least one son, so that he may continue to make offerings to the Pitris....
(ancestors) at a proper time, in a proper place, to deserving persons and in accordance with the prescribed procedure” is meant to honor ancestors; however, by contrast, a believer of karma would agree that when the body dies, the soul automatically enters into another body, regardless of whether one performs srāddha for his or her ancestors.
Therefore, in contrast with karma, Kane states that Śrāddha
Śrāddha
Śrāddha or Shraaddha is a Sanskrit word which literally means anything or any act that is performed with all sincerity and faith . In the Hindu religion, it is the ritual that one performs to pay homage to one’s 'ancestors' , especially to one’s dead parents...
, “the doctrine of offering balls of rice to three ancestors requires that the spirits of the three ancestors, even after the lapse of 50 or 100 years, are still capable of enjoying in an ethereal body the flavor or essence of rice balls wafted by the wind.” Of course, the two differing views can be reconciled if we take into account the belief of the sastras which state that karma is not to be taken literally. However, as evidenced by the variety of opinions written on this subject, the consistency between differing views on karma will not hold elsewhere.
Relation between birth in a particular body to karma
Theistic schools believe in cycles of creations where souls gravitate to specific bodies in accordance with karma, which as an unintelligent object depends on the will of God alone. For example, Kaushitaki UpanishadKaushitaki Upanishad
The Kaushitaki Upanishad is one of the earlier, "primary" Upanishads, belonging to the Kaushitaki shakha of the Rigveda. It is a Sāmānya Upanishad. It figures as number 25 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads.-Overview:...
1.2 asserts that birth in different forms of existence as a worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
, snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
or a human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
, is determined by a person's deeds and knowledge.
Chandogya Upanishad
Chandogya Upanishad
The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the "primary" Upanishads. Together with the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it ranks among the oldest Upanishads, dating to the Vedic Brahmana period....
5.10.7 distinguishes between good birth such as birth in a spiritual family, i.e., (brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
caste) or an evil birth, such as birth as a dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
or hog
Domestic pig
The domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...
.) Thus, the doctrine of karma comes to explain why different life forms manifest, into widely various levels of biological development such as characterization into different species from plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s to various types of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, and to even differences between members of the same species, such as humans.
Thus, many, such as the Upanishadic readings suggest that birth in a particular caste is in accordance with karma, as those with good deeds are said to be born into a spiritual family, which is synonymous with the brahmana
Brahmana
The Brāhmaṇas are part of the Hindu śruti literature. They are commentaries on the four Vedas, detailing the proper performance of rituals....
caste. Good deeds will lead one to be born into a spiritual family where his future destiny will be determined by his behaviour and deeds in the current life. In the Gita, Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
said that characteristics of a brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
are determined by behavior, not by birth. A verse from the Gita illustrates this point: "The duties of Brahmins, Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s, Vaishya
Vaishya
Vaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...
s as also of Sudras, O scorcher of foes, are distributed according to the gunas (behavior) born of their own nature." (Bhagavad Gita 18.41)
Further elaborating on this view as recited in the Gita, Madhvacharya
Madhvacharya
Madhvācārya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda "Philosophy of Reality", popularly known as the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedānta philosophies. Madhvācārya was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in...
interprets the concept of Varna (Hinduism), a term designating the division of Hindu society into four social classes based on guna
Guna
' means 'string' or 'a single thread or strand of a cord or twine'. In more abstract uses, it may mean 'a subdivision, species, kind, quality', or an operational principle or tendency....
(attributes) and karma (activity) as not being defined by birth, but rather by the nature of a soul. For example, a soul having the nature of a Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
could be born as a Sudra
Shudra
Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
and vice versa. The caste system decided by birth, according to him, is actually Jati
Jati
Jāti is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the...
, which is a term designating a particular community, and not Varna. The varnas simply define the disposition of the soul; for example,a soul classified as Brahmin varna is disposed towards learning; a Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
soul is disposed towards administration and a Sudra
Shudra
Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
soul is disposed towards performing service. Thus, he gave a new interpretation to the caste system as he believed that the caste was related to one's nature than to his or her birth; birth, according to Madhva, was not determinative of varna; a spiritually enlightened chandala
Chandala
Chandala is a Sanskrit word for someone who deals with disposal of corpses, and is a Hindu lower caste, formerly considered untouchables. Currently it is a term used specifically in Indo-Aryan speaking regions of India. Sandala has become a swear word in the colloquial usage of the Tamil language...
(outcaste) was better than an ignorant Brahmin.
Relation between astrology and karma
Charles Keyes, professor emeritus at the University of WashingtonUniversity of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and E. Valentine Daniel, professor of anthropology at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
state that many Hindus believe that heavenly bodies, including the planets, have an influence throughout the life of a human being, and these planetary influences are the "fruit of karma."
The Navagraha
Navagraha
Graha is a 'cosmic influencer' on the living beings of mother Bhumidevi . In Hindu astrology, the Navagraha are some of these major influencers.All the navagraha have relative movement with respect to the background of fixed stars in the zodiac...
, planetary deities, including Shani
Shani
Sanskrit Śhani शनि, Kannada Śhani ಶನಿ ದೇವರು,Shani/Sani , is one of the Navagraha or Jyotiṣa . Shani is embodied in the planet Saturn and is the Lord of Saturday....
(Saturn), are considered subordinate to Ishvara
Ishvara
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller in a theistic school of thought or the Supreme Being, or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought.-Etymology:...
(i.e., the Supreme Being) and are believed by many to assist in the administration of justice. Thus, these planets can influence earthly life.
Such planetary influences are believed by many to be measurable using astrological methods including Jyotiṣa, the Hindu system of astrology.
Other uses in Hinduism
Besides narrow meaning of karma as the reaction or suffering being due to karma of their past lives and that one would have to transmigrate to another body in their next life, it is often used in the broader sense as action or reaction.Thus, karma in Hinduism may mean an activity, an action or a materialistic activity. Often with the specific combination it takes specific meanings, such as karma-yoga or karma-kanda means "yoga or actions" and "path of materialistic activity" respectively. Yet another example is Nitya karma
Nitya karma
Nitya karma refers to those karmas which have to be performed daily by Hindus. The Hindu Shastras say that not performing nitya karmas leads to sin. The nitya karmas include:*Snana *Sandhyavandanam*Devataarchanam...
, which describes rituals which have to be performed daily by Hindus, such as the Sandhyavandanam
Sandhyavandanam
Sandhyavandanam is a religious practice performed by Hindu men initiated into the rite by the ceremony of Upanayanam, and instructed in its execution by a Guru . Sandhyavandanam consists of excerpts from the Great Vedas that are to be recited thrice daily...
which involves chanting of the Gayatri Mantra
Gayatri Mantra
The Gāyatrī Mantra is a highly revered mantra, based on a Vedic Sanskrit verse from a hymn of the Rigveda , attributed to the rishi . The mantra is named for its vedic gāyatrī metre. As the verse can be interpreted to invoke the deva Savitr, it is often called Sāvitrī...
.
Other uses include such expressions such as "ugra-karma", meaning bitter, unwholesome labor.
See also
- Free willFree will"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
- Hindu answers to the problem of evilHindu answers to the problem of evilHindu answers to the problem of evil are different from most answers offered in Western philosophy, partly because the problem of evil within Hindu thought is differently structured than Western traditions, mainly Abrahamic traditions.- Problem of injustice :...
- Problem of evilProblem of evilIn the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...
- Problem of evil
- KarmaKarmaKarma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
- Karma in BuddhismKarma in BuddhismKarma means "action" or "doing"; whatever one does, says, or thinks is a karma. In Buddhism, the term karma is used specifically for those actions which spring from the intention of an unenlightened being.These bring about a fruit or result Karma (Sanskrit, also karman, Pāli: Kamma) means...
- Karma in Jainism
- Reincarnation and Hinduism