Karma is a concept in Hinduism, based on the Vedas and Upanishads, which explains causality through a system where beneficial events are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful events from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a person's reincarnated lives. Karma in Hinduism is used to explain the problem of evil that persists in spite of an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent God; in this it is related to theodicy.

One of the first and most dramatic illustrations of karma can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Hindu epic. 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 later adopted by other religions, such as Buddhism and Jainism, whose views differ from Hinduism as not involving the role of a personal supreme God. Thus, karma has had a major influence on worldwide philosophy and spirituality.

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. 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.

As Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains it, unkindness yields spoiled fruits, called papa, and good deeds bring forth sweet fruits, called punya. He further notes that as one acts, so does he become: one becomes virtuous by virtuous action, evil by evil action.

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 the future.

The role of God

While the action of karma has often been compared with the Western notions of sin and judgment by God, karma instead has been commonly perceived by Westerners to operate as a law of nature without the intervention of any supernatural Being. That notion is not accurate with regard to Hinduism, though it holds true for Buddhism and Jainism.

Karma in Hinduism does involve the role of God. Unlike Buddhists and Jains who believe that karma on its own joins the soul when it reincarnates, Hindus believe in the role of God in linking karma to an individual.

Sri K. Thirugnana Sambantha writes

Sivananda's views on karma based on the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras

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 (Phaladhikaranam, Topic 8, Sutras 38-41) 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:

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 a reflection essentially of Brahman. The tree represents the body. The soul identifies itself with the body and 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 owing to social inequality, fate, and universal suffering in the world. According to the Brahma Sutras, it is individual souls that are responsible for their own fate and God is merely the dispenser and witness with reference to the merit and demerit of souls.

In his commentary on Chapter 2 (Adhikarana XII, Sutras 34-36) of the Brahma Sutras, Sivananda further notes that the position of God with respect to karma can be explained with 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 further 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.

Hindu scriptures on mitigation of karma by God

Some non-Hindu theologians have interpreted the concept of the relationship between God and karma to indicate that God is neutral and detached towards all, and thus He has no power in controlling karma. However, it is

God is all-merciful and His grace can overcome or mitigate the karma of man in many cases. It is still important to remember that man has free will and has to seek him. The nature of God is explained in the Brahma Sutras.

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.

The story of Ajamila in the Bhagavata Purana, , also illustrates the same point. He had committed a lot of 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 actually was thinking of his youngest son, whose name was also Narayana. But the name of God has powerful effects and he was forgiven for his great sins and attained salvation, despite his bad karma.

A Saivite interpretation of karma

As stated in Surendranath Dasgupta's book, A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume V, The Southern Schools of Saivism, p.87: 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. He believes 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 in 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 acting in a particular way, or desisting from a particular action in accordance with the nature of the fruition of their past deeds.† He further believes that Siva only helps a person when he wishes to act in a particular way or to desist from a particular action.

A Vaishnavite interpretation of karma

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 beginningless and is 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; and 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 in his book Bhakti Schools of Vedanta, 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 therefore 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.

Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

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, 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.

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 in 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 and not by birth.

References

1.   Cited from Dancing with Siva by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

• cited from Swami Sivananda's commentary on the Brahma Sutras
• cited from Bhakti Schools of Vedanta by Swami Tapasyananda
• cited from See Outline of Saivism, section on Karma.
• † cited from Surendranath Dasgupta's book, A History of Indian Philosphy, Volume V, The Southern Schools of Saivism, pg. 87-89.

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