Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c36.85

v2.c36.85

The Th. now put the crucial question thus: whether the doer of a deed is identical with, or different from, the enjoyer of its fruit. The opponents first deny both to avoid contradiction of Buddha’s saying: *sayaṃ kataṃ paraṃ kataṃ sukhadukkhaṃ*, etc. but on second thought in view of their theory that there is a common element keeping the link between the present and the future life, they admit it. In short, the Sam. affirm that there is a *kāraka* (doer) and *vedaka* (feeler or enjoyer) of a deed, but the two are neither identical nor different, neither both identical and different, nor not both identical and different.