Karma in Hinduism

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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 person's reincarnated lives. Karma in Hinduism explains the problem of evil that persists in spite of an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent God; it is thus related to theodicy.


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Parts of the Mahabharata are sometimes anaylzed as a Karma story (the other parts being related to Moksha), a story where people received the reward of their actions, good and bad. The original Hindu concept of karma was later elaborated on by several other movements within the religion, most notably Vedanta, Yoga, and Tantra. The concept was adopted by other religions such as Buddhism and Jainism, whose views differ from Hinduism as the concept of Karma does not involve a personal supreme God. Karma has had a major influence on worldwide philosophy and spirituality.

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[edit] Definition

"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 life. It is believed that only beings that can distinguish right from wrong, such as adult humans, can accumulate Karma. Animals and young children are not considered to accumulate Karma as they are incapable of discriminating between right and wrong. However, all sentient beings can feel the effects of Karma, which are pleasure and pain.[1] Karma is not fate; humans are believed to act with free will, creating their own destinies. According to the Vedas, if an individual sows goodness, he or she will reap goodness; if one sows evil, he or she will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of mankind's actions and their concommitant reactions in current and previous lives, all of which determine the future. However, many karmas do not have an immediate effect; some accumulate and return unexpectedly in an individual's later lives. The conquest of karma is believed to lie in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction.

Unkindness yields spoiled fruits, called papa, and good deeds bring forth sweet fruits, called punya. As one acts, so does he become: one becomes virtuous by virtuous action, and evil by evil action.[2]

There are three types of karma in Hinduism:

  1. sanchita karma, the sum total of past karmas yet to be resolved;
  2. prarabdha karma, that portion of sanchita karma that is to be experienced in this life; and
  3. kriyamana karma, the karma that humans are currently creating, which will bear fruit in future.


[edit] The role of God

Although in Buddhism and Jainism, karma is seen as simply a law of nature, several different views exist in Hinduism. In Hinduism, many see God as playing some kind of role, for example, as the dispenser of the fruits of karma[3]. Other Hindus consider the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma.[4][5][6] Some interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita [7] suggest an intermediate view, that karma is a law of cause and effect yet God can mitigate karma for His devotees. Another view holds that a Sadguru, acting on God's behalf, can mitigate or work out some of the karma of the disciple. [8][9][10]

Thus, according to many Hindus, God does have hand in the process of karma. Unlike Buddhists and Jains who believe that Karma on its own joins the soul when it reincarnates, this Hindu belief describes the role of God in linking Karma to an individual. In fact, Hinduism argues for the existence of an Omniscient God (Sanskrit: Ishvara) because the judgment of intelligent actions (i.e. Karma) requires intelligence on the part of the judge (i.e. God). Unintelligent nature by itself cannot judge the performance of actions of intelligent beings. Hence the intervention of an Omniscient God is required to dispense the fruits of Karma — which are rewards for good actions (in the form of pleasure) and punishments for evil actions (in the form of pain).


[edit] Two examples from the Puranas

The story of Markandeya, who was saved from death by Siva, illustrates that God's grace can overcome Karma and death for His beloved devotee.[2]

The story of Ajamila in the Bhagavata Purana [3] [4],[5] 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.

[edit] Views of Hindu traditions on karma

[edit] Advaita Vedanta

Swami Sivananda, an Advaita scholar, reiterates the same views in his commentary synthesising Vedanta views on the Brahma Sutras, a Vedantic text. 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.[11]

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 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.[12]

[edit] Shaivism

Thirugnana Sambanthar 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 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.[13]

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.[14] 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, another Saivite theologian, 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.[15] 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.

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains in the lexicon section of his book, Dancing with Siva, that karma literally means "deed or act" and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction which governs all life. As he explains it, karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. The Vedas tell us that if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami further notes that 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 births.

[edit] Vaishnavism

Ramanuja attempts to fashion a solution to the problem of evil by attributing all evil things in life to the accumulation of evil karma of jivas (human souls), and maintains that God is amala or without any stain of evil.

Madhva, the founder of the Dvaita school, 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 jivas 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.

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.[16]

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.

[edit] Gita interpretations and role of Guru

Some interpretations of certain verses in the Bhagavad Gita [17] suggests an intermediate view, that karma is a law of cause and effect yet God can mitigate karma for His devotees. Another view holds that a Sadguru, acting on God's behalf, can mitigate or work out some of the karma of the disciple. [18][19][20]

[edit] Caste and karma

As stated earlier, 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 God alone. Thus, many interpret the caste system in accordance with karma, as those with good deeds are born into a spiritual family, which is synonymous with the brahmana caste. However, Krishna said in the Gita that characteristics of a brahmin are determined by behavior, not by birth. A verse from the Gita illustrates this point: "The duties of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas as also of Sudras, O scorcher of foes, are distributed according to the gunas (behavior) born of their own nature." (Chapter 18, verse 41)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chandrasekhara Bharathi Mahaswamigal, Dialogues with the Guru.
  2. ^ Subramuniyaswami, Satguru Sivaya. Dancing with Siva.
  3. ^ [[1]]
  4. ^ Pratima Bowes, The Hindu Religious Tradition 54-80 (Allied Pub. 1976) ISBN 0-7100-8668
  5. ^ Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. II, at 217-225 (18th reprint 1995) ISBN 81-85301-75-1
  6. ^ Alex Michaels, Hinduism: Past and Present 154-56 (Princeton 1998) ISBN 0-691-08953-1
  7. ^ Verses 4:14, 9.22 and 18.61
  8. ^ Yogananda, Paramahansa, Autobiography of a Yogi, Chapter 21 ISBN 1565892127
  9. ^ Swami Krishnananda on the Guru mitigating the karma of the disciple
  10. ^ Swami B. V. Tripurari on grace of the Guru destroying karma
  11. ^ Sivananda, Swami. Phaladhikaranam, Topic 8, Sutras 38-41.
  12. ^ Sivananda, Swami. Adhikarana XII, Sutras 34-36.
  13. ^ Sambantha, Shri K. Thirugnana. Explanation of God's role and Karma. See Outline of Saivism, section on Karma.
  14. ^ Dasgupta, Surendranath, A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume V, The Southern Schools of Saivism, p. 87
  15. ^ Dasgupta, Surendranath. A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume V: The Southern Schools of Saivism, pp. 87-89.
  16. ^ Tapasyananda, Swami. Bhakti Schools of Vedanta.
  17. ^ Verses 4:14, 9.22 and 18.61
  18. ^ Yogananda, Paramahansa, Autobiography of a Yogi, Chapter 21 ISBN 1565892127
  19. ^ Swami Krishnananda on the Guru mitigating the karma of the disciple
  20. ^ Swami B. V. Tripurari on grace of the Guru destroying karma

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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