History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.232

v7.c95.232

The principle of the doctrine of Karma is that every act, whether good or bad, produces a certain result or return which cannot be escaped. In the physical world there is the universal law of causation. The doctrine of Karma extends this inexorable law of causality to the mental and moral sphere. The doctrine of Karma is not a mechanical law; it is rather a moral or a spiritual necessity. It cannot, however, be said that this doctrine is an induction from observed facts nor can it be asserted that it is experimentally verifiable, but it is only a hypothesis or supposition; it is, however, far better than other naive and childlike theories. In the absence of the theory of karma and rebirth it would have to be assumed that the world is arbitrary, that the Creator is not bound to regard the nature of men's actions but may distribute rewards as he pleases or by caprice. This doctrine of Karma emphasizes three things, firstly it regards an existence as a sort of expiation for the doings of a previous existence or existences; secondly, an evil deed cannot be expiated by works of merit but its punishment must be borne; thirdly, the punishment for wrong is automatic and personal. Under the doctrine of Karma there is no such thing as chance or luck. When we use those words they correspond to no reality and are a tacit confession of our ignorance or inability to state the cause or causes of what has happened. This doctrine of Karma leads on to the doctrine of transmigration. The results of a man's actions may not happen at once or in the present life. The Ādiparva and Manu say²⁵³² 'an evil deed does not yield its retribution immediately like a a cow (that yields plenty of milk immediately after she is well fed) but returning slowly it cuts off the very roots of the perpetrator.' Man's actions in past existences determine or fashion the nature of the present existence and the actions in the present existence taken along with the residue of past actions will determine the future existence. This, in short, is the basis of the doctrine of *punarjanma*. The modifications introduced by texts or popular notions will be briefly dealt with later. The theory of rebirth is as logical as any of the hypotheses that hold the field about what happens after physical death of the body. It is certainly as satisfactory as (or rather more satisfactory than) the theory of absolute annihilation after physical death (held by atheists) or the theory of eternal reward or retribution in heaven or hell (for confirmed criminals of one life). The leaders or exponents of almost all religions hold that God is with them and they generally have never seen (up to at least the 19th century A. D.) any good outside their respective Churches. Hinduism of the Upanisads and Gītā is the only religion and philosophy that proclaimed thousands of years ago that the man of good deeds is nearest to God on account of his goodness and the man of evil deeds cannot secure divine grace and fellowship, whomsoever he may regard as a prophet or messiah sent by God.