Law OfKarmaandReincarnation

7/27/2019 Law OfKarmaandReincarnation

1/6

Law of Karma and Reincarnation Epistemological comparison in Vedanta & Buddhism

Abstract : Law of Karma & Reincarnation has been an integrated philosophy in almost every

religion on this planet. Vedantic scriptures especially The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads testify

to the immortality of soul. Soul changes body like we change old clothes and wears a new body

but the rewards and punishments subsequent to the karmic actions in the previous birth will

have to be accepted in the present birth as willed by the providence. Buddhism agrees that Law

of Karma will ensure that good actions -kusala karmas will bear good fruit whereas bad actions

-akusala karmas will bear bad fruit but differs with Vedanta as it denies the existence of God

and asserts that Law of Karma works itself. Based on the above comparisons, the present paper

builds a Comparative Template from these two ancient religions of the world.

Main Article

Introduction

Pali word Kamma or Sanskrit word Karma (from the root kr- to do) means doing i.e. action.

Karma is sometimes referred to as fate or destiny but this is not the connotation of the word

Karma in the Law of Karma. Neither does it imply the fruits of actions. Karma is action itself.

Law of Karma & Reincarnation has been an integrated philosophy in almost every religion on

this planet. However Vedantic scriptures especially The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads testify

to the immortality of soul. Soul changes body like we change old clothes and wears a new body

but the rewards and punishments subsequent to the karmic actions in the previous birth will

have to be accepted in the present birth as willed by the providence. Buddhism agrees that Lawof Karma will ensure that good actions -kusala karmas will bear good fruit whereas bad actions

-akusala karmas will bear bad fruit but differs with Vedanta as it denies the existence of God

and asserts that Law of Karma works itself.

Buddhism


2/6

Buddhism originated around 2400 years ago after Sidharatha the Prince attained

enlightenment. The Prince became the Buddha the Awakened One and he started

sermonizing the masses on what is popularly known as the Middle Path and The Four Noble

Truths. The gist of his teachings is that life is a suffering (dukkha, Samuaya) and the cause of all

suffering is desire. The way leading to the cessation of dukkha (Mega) is the annihilation of

desires and that is when one reaches Nirodha (the cessation of dukkha). Buddhism became very

popular with stately Indian kings who patronized and popularized it further. Although Buddhism

came to be divided into two parts after Buddhas death, namely Hinayana and Mahayana but for

the purpose of this study we would concentrate on Buddhas sermons as contained in

Dhammapada.

Law of Karma in Buddhism : In Buddhist Theory of Karma, Karma has a special significance.

Karma means the volitional action and not all actions. It is the action per se and not the rewards

thereof as is sometimes misunderstood. In Buddhist terminology, Karma never means the effect

which is known as karam phala or karam-vipaka. The Theory of Karma should not be confused

with so called moral justice or reward and punishment. The idea of moral justice or reward and

punishment presupposes the idea of existence of supreme entity which the Buddhism denies

vehemently. Buddha was a supreme man, a self realized soul but even he refused the title of God

or Incarnate for himself. There is no God or soul. The religious book of verses attributed to the

Buddha is The Dhammapada which contains ethical messages. The ethical teaching of the

Dhammapada is expressed in the first pair of verses: the mind, through its actions (kamma), is

the chief architect of one's happiness and suffering both in this life and beyond. Karma is the

energy which drives samsara- the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. The first three

chapters elaborate on this point, to show that there are two major ways of relating to this fact: as

a wise person, who is heedful enough to make the necessary effort to train his/her own mind to

be a skillful architect; and as a fool, who is heedless and sees no reason to train the mind. This

message of kusala and akusala karmas is aptly conveyed in the first two verses of theDhammapada.

Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart.

If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you --

as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.


3/6

If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart,

then happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves.

Good, skillful and bad, unskillful actions produce seeds in the mind which come to fruition

either in this life or in a subsequent re-birth. The avoidance of unwholesome actions and

cultivation of positive actions is called sila(ethical conduct).

Re-birth or re-incarnation

Buddhism starts with the idea of an unknowable reality. There are thought processes or two

schools of Buddhism the Northern School and the Southern School of Buddhism. Northern

School holds that the soul accompanied by its karma, reincarnates along the same lines as those

taught by all other Hindu schools of Reincarnation and Karma. But the Southern School holds

that it is not the soul entity that reincarnates (for there is no such entity) but that instead it is

Karma or Essence of Deeds that reincarnates from life to life according to its attractions, desires,

merits or demerits.

The Law of Karma underpins the process of transmigration of soul. Karma literally means

action but more often refers to the accumulated reaction to activities. The self determination and

accountability of individual soul rests on its capacity for free choice. In Buddism, re-birth means

succession of lifetimes as ordained by previous karmas. Each re-birth takes place within one of

the six possible life forms of human life form is the best life form where man has the freedom to

choose his actions and thus engaging in god actions, he can elevate himself to the Maha-

nirvana or self-realization stage. Other life-forms like naraka-beings, animals, preta,

asuras are lowly forms of life wherein they just dilute their past bad karma and slowly become

eligible for human life formand devas the sixth life form means higher gods or deities.

Vedanta

Hinduism is one the most ancient religions of the world. The main scriptures of Hinduism are

Vedas which are four in number namely Rigveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda and Yajurveda.

Unlike Buddhist scriptures which contain teaching of Gautama- the Buddha, Vedic injunctions

are un-attributable to any one great saint or rishi of yore times. Infact, Vedas are supposed be


4/6

direct revelation from God to mankind and those rishis who were the direct recipients of this

great knowledge have remained anonymous. These were not penned down until 1500 BC and

hence they were passed by words of mouth from teacher to the disciple. Each of the four

Vedas are further sub-divided into four parts- Aranayaka, Brahamana, Samhitas and Upanishads.

The first three parts contain the ritualistic part of Hinduism and the last and fourth part the

Upanishads which contain the philosophical part of Hinduism that is the philosophy of individual

soul (jiva) and the cosmic soul (brahman) and the connection between the two. And because

Upanishads are appended at the end of Vedas so they are called Vedanta or the End of Vedas.

The language and terminology used in the Upanishads is vague, abstract and requires a very high

level of intellectual understanding backed up with able guidance. So to make Upanishads user

friendly, Rishi Ved Vyasa presented the simplified version of Upanishads in the Bhagavad

Gita. So Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita together are called Vedanta.

Re-incarnation in Vedanta

Concept of Karma originated from Hindu belief that there is a perfect Universal order named

Rita in world. In Rig Veda, Varun is named as the guardian of Rita. Ancient Hindu Scriptures

categorically assert that Chitragupta is the universal record keeper of all good and bad actions

of all human beings. The good and bad karmas and even the good and bad thoughts go to his

records and there is no escaping from this divine record. Ultimately, at the end of life, aBalance Sheet is prepared and excess of good Karmas over bad Karmas is credit balance and

vice versa. So every being has to take birth to enjoy credit balance or to suffer for the debit

balance of his previous lifes balance sheet. The re-birth has been very clearly cited in the 5 th

shloka, Ch 4 of the Bhagavad Gita

Bahuni me vaytitani janamani tav cha Arjun

Tanyaham veda sarvani na twam vetatha Prantapa

(Arjuna, you and I have passed through many births ; I remember them all ; you do not

remember, O slayer of foes)


5/6

And again in shloka 22 of Ch 2 the transmigration of soul is very clearly indicated by Lord

Krishna

Vasansi Jirnani yatha vihaya, navani grihanati naroparani

Tatha sharirani vihaya jirana, nayanati sanyati navani dehi

(as a man shedding worn out garments, takes other new ones, like wise, the embodied soul,

casting off worn out bodies, enters into others that are new)

The Vedantists teach that the evolution of soul is accompanied by its escaping folds of Maya or

materiality one by one by means of re-birth until it manifests more and more of its divine nature

and thus it goes on and on from higher to still higher until at last the individual soul or Jiva uniteswith the cosmic soul or Brahaman which is called the Moksha in Hinduism and Nirvana in

Buddhism.

Law of Karma

The Law of Karma can be studied in three parts :

Sanchit Karmas : This is the sum total of past karmas yet to be resolved.

Prarabadha Karmas : It is that portion of Sanchit Karmas which are scheduled to be experienced

in the present life.

Kriyamana Karamas : It is the karma which is being generated presently. While some kriyamana

karmas bear fruit in present life, others are stored for future births.

Law of Karma is the most misunderstood Law in Hinduism. People blame the orthodox

bahyavadi mentality of Hindu race on the Law of Karma. They say when everything is predecided by God Himself and each being on Earth will enjoy or suffer as ordained so why make

an effort? But what they allege is the emanation from a superficial understanding of the Law of

Karma and non differentiation of Law of Karma from Law of Destiny. Whilst Law of Karma

says that one has to suffer or enjoy the effects of the karmas of previous life, there is no need to


6/6

despair as human beings are endowed with intellect. Intellect equips them with the

differentiating mechanism whereby they can understand the difference between good karmas and

bad karmas. The Law of destiny says that in the present birth whilst enjoying or suffering the

effects of past life, man has still a choice- the choice of good karmas or bad karmas in the present

which will ultimately decide his future destiny.

Conclusion

Both the ancient religions propagate ethics, morality and good karmas via the Law of Karma and

Theory of Reincarnation. There are differences in the enunciation and interpretation. Buddhism

denies existence of God, soul and believes that Law of Karma works on its own, on the basis of

cause and effect principle and soul is non-existent but each human being is born again and

again to undergo the suffering of his previous bad karmas. Vedanta firmly establishes the

existence of soul and its transmigration and further God as the universal manager. Nonetheless,

both religions firmly establish the Law of Cause and Effect which is the propitiator of re-births

or the cause of beings coming on Earth again and again.

Documents

Law OfKarmaandReincarnation