Samnyasa Upanishads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation c5.s2.t6.14

c5.s2.t6.14

An important feature of the theology of debts is that a man becomes indebted by the mere fact of his birth. This stands in sharp contrast to the normal understanding that a debt is contracted by a deliberate action of an adult. Sāyaṇa, the great medieval commentator on the Vedas, (on ŚB 1.7.2.1) recognized the new definition of debt in this theology when he says that "birth alone is the cause of indebtedness" (*ṛṇatve jananam eva nimittam*). The texts do not throw any light on the mechanism whereby a man falls into debt at birth. There is no myth of origin that would provide us with some clues. Unlike the Judeo-Christian doctrine of original sin, the debts one incurs at birth, on the one hand, are not caused by some act committed by one's ancestors, and, on the other, affect only twice-born males. The manner in which debts are inherited, furthermore, contradicts the ideology of *karma*.³⁷ While the doctrine of *karma* insists that people reap what they sow, the doctrine of debts asserts that twice-born men become guilty of debts without any deliberate act on their part. Further, even though debts are incurred immediately upon birth, the tradition is unanimous that their payment can only be made when the individual is able and qualified to do so: the payment of the debt to the seers requires Vedic initiation, and the payment of the debts to gods and forefathers presupposes marriage.