History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.322

v7.c95.322

The strict doctrine of Karma would require that there can be no transfer of good or bad *karma* from one man to another and a man cannot suffer for the sins of others. But in the Ṛgveda there are allusions to the belief that God might inflict punishment on the sons for the sins of their fathers. For example, in Ṛg. VII. 86. 5 Vasiṣṭha²⁵⁷⁷ prays to Varuṇa 'cast away from us the transgressions of our fathers, and those that we committed in our own person'; 'May we not have to suffer for the sin committed by another, may we not do that for which you punish (this is addressed to Viśve-devāḥ). The Śāntiparva, however, asserts 'whatever deed a man does in four ways viz. with eye, with thought, speech or action, he receives (in return) that same kind of action; a man does not enjoy (i e experience the results of) the good deeds or evil deeds of another; man attains (a result) in consonance with the actions done by himself'.²⁵⁷⁸ Similarly, in the Gṛdhra-gomāyu-saṃvāda, it is asserted 'the son does not have to go by the path due to the actions of the father, nor *vice versa*, they being bound by their own respective good or evil deeds proceed each by a different path'. Whatever deed a man does, whether holy or very unholy (terrible), the consequences of that are experienced by the doer alone, what have the relatives to do with that' (Śāntiparva 153. 38 and 41=cr. ed 149. 34 and 37).