Law of Karma and Reincarnation Epistemological comparison in Vedanta & Buddhism

Abstract : Law of Karma & Reincarnation has been an integrated philosophy in almost every religion on this planet. Vedantic scriptures especially The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads testify to the immortality of soul. Soul changes body like we change old clothes and wears a new body but the rewards and punishments subsequent to the karmic actions in the previous birth will have to be accepted in the present birth as willed by the providence. Buddhism agrees that Law of Karma will ensure that good actions -kusala karmas will bear good fruit whereas bad actions -akusala karmas will bear bad fruit but differs with Vedanta as it denies the existence of God and asserts that Law of Karma works itself. Based on the above comparisons, the present paper builds a Comparative Template from these two ancient religions of the world.

Main Article

Introduction Pali word Kamma or Sanskrit word Karma (from the root kr- to do) means doing i.e. action. Karma is sometimes referred to as fate or destiny but this is not the connotation of the word Karma in the Law of Karma. Neither does it imply the fruits of actions. Karma is action itself. Law of Karma & Reincarnation has been an integrated philosophy in almost every religion on this planet. However Vedantic scriptures especially The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads testify to the immortality of soul. Soul changes body like we change old clothes and wears a new body but the rewards and punishments subsequent to the karmic actions in the previous birth will have to be accepted in the present birth as willed by the providence. Buddhism agrees that Law of Karma will ensure that good actions -kusala karmas will bear good fruit whereas bad actions -akusala karmas will bear bad fruit but differs with Vedanta as it denies the existence of God and asserts that Law of Karma works itself. Buddhism

Buddhism originated around 2400 years ago after Sidharatha the Prince attained enlightenment. The Prince became the Buddha the Awakened One and he started sermonizing the masses on what is popularly known as the Middle Path and The Four Noble Truths. The gist of his teachings is that life is a suffering (dukkha, Samuaya) and the cause of all suffering is desire. The way leading to the cessation of dukkha (Mega) is the annihilation of desires and that is when one reaches Nirodha (the cessation of dukkha). Buddhism became very popular with stately Indian kings who patronized and popularized it further. Although Buddhism came to be divided into two parts after Buddhas death, namely Hinayana and Mahayana but for the purpose of this study we would concentrate on Buddhas sermons as contained in Dhammapada. Law of Karma in Buddhism: In Buddhist Theory of Karma, Karma has a special significance. Karma means the volitional action and not all actions. It is the action per se and not the rewards thereof as is sometimes misunderstood. In Buddhist terminology, Karma never means the effect which is known as karam phala or karam-vipaka. The Theory of Karma should not be confused with so called moral justice or reward and punishment. The idea of moral justice or reward and punishment presupposes the idea of existence of supreme entity which the Buddhism denies vehemently. Buddha was a supreme man, a self realized soul but even he refused the title of God or Incarnate for himself. There is no God or soul. The religious book of verses attributed to the Buddha is The Dhammapada which contains ethical messages. The ethical teaching of the Dhammapada is expressed in the first pair of verses: the mind, through its actions (kamma), is the chief architect of one's happiness and suffering both in this life and beyond. Karma is the energy which drives samsara- the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. The first three chapters elaborate on this point, to show that there are two major ways of relating to this fact: as a wise person, who is heedful enough to make the necessary effort to train his/her own mind to be a skillful architect; and as a fool, who is heedless and sees no reason to train the mind. This message of kusala and akusala karmas is aptly conveyed in the first two verses of the Dhammapada. Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you -as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.

If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart, then happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves. Good, skillful and bad, unskillful actions produce seeds in the mind which come to fruition either in this life or in a subsequent re-birth. The avoidance of unwholesome actions and cultivation of positive actions is called sila(ethical conduct). Re-birth or re-incarnation Buddhism starts with the idea of an unknowable reality. There are thought processes or two schools of Buddhism the Northern School and the Southern School of Buddhism. Northern School holds that the soul accompanied by its karma, reincarnates along the same lines as those taught by all other Hindu schools of Reincarnation and Karma. But the Southern School holds that it is not the soul entity that reincarnates (for there is no such entity) but that instead it is Karma or Essence of Deeds that reincarnates from life to life according to its attractions, desires, merits or demerits. The Law of Karma underpins the process of transmigration of soul. Karma literally means action but more often refers to the accumulated reaction to activities. The self determination and accountability of individual soul rests on its capacity for free choice. In Buddism, re-birth means succession of lifetimes as ordained by previous karmas. Each re-birth takes place within one of the six possible life forms of human life form is the best life form where man has the freedom to choose his actions and thus engaging in god actions, he can elevate himself to the Mahanirvana or self-realization stage. Other life-forms like naraka-beings, animals, preta, asuras are lowly forms of life wherein they just dilute their past bad karma and slowly become eligible for human life formand devas the sixth life form means higher gods or deities. Vedanta Hinduism is one the most ancient religions of the world. The main scriptures of Hinduism are Vedas which are four in number namely Rigveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda and Yajurveda. Unlike Buddhist scriptures which contain teaching of Gautama- the Buddha, Vedic injunctions are un-attributable to any one great saint or rishi of yore times. Infact, Vedas are supposed be

direct revelation from God to mankind and those rishis who were the direct recipients of this great knowledge have remained anonymous. These were not penned down until 1500 BC and hence they were passed by words of mouth from teacher to the disciple. Each of the four Vedas are further sub-divided into four parts- Aranayaka, Brahamana, Samhitas and Upanishads. The first three parts contain the ritualistic part of Hinduism and the last and fourth part the Upanishads which contain the philosophical part of Hinduism that is the philosophy of individual soul (jiva) and the cosmic soul (brahman) and the connection between the two. And because Upanishads are appended at the end of Vedas so they are called Vedanta or the End of Vedas. The language and terminology used in the Upanishads is vague, abstract and requires a very high level of intellectual understanding backed up with able guidance. So to make Upanishads user friendly, Rishi Ved Vyasa presented the simplified version of Upanishads in the Bhagavad Gita. So Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita together are called Vedanta. Re-incarnation in Vedanta Concept of Karma originated from Hindu belief that there is a perfect Universal order named Rita in world. In Rig Veda, Varun is named as the guardian of Rita. Ancient Hindu Scriptures categorically assert that Chitragupta is the universal record keeper of all good and bad actions of all human beings. The good and bad karmas and even the good and bad thoughts go to his records and there is no escaping from this divine record. Ultimately, at the end of life, a Balance Sheet is prepared and excess of good Karmas over bad Karmas is credit balance and vice versa. So every being has to take birth to enjoy credit balance or to suffer for the debit balance of his previous lifes balance sheet. The re-birth has been very clearly cited in the 5th shloka, Ch 4 of the Bhagavad Gita Bahuni me vaytitani janamani tav cha Arjun Tanyaham veda sarvani na twam vetatha Prantapa (Arjuna, you and I have passed through many births ; I remember them all ; you do not remember, O slayer of foes)

And again in shloka 22 of Ch 2 the transmigration of soul is very clearly indicated by Lord Krishna Vasansi Jirnani yatha vihaya, navani grihanati naroparani Tatha sharirani vihaya jirana, nayanati sanyati navani dehi (as a man shedding worn out garments, takes other new ones, like wise, the embodied soul, casting off worn out bodies, enters into others that are new) The Vedantists teach that the evolution of soul is accompanied by its escaping folds of Maya or materiality one by one by means of re-birth until it manifests more and more of its divine nature and thus it goes on and on from higher to still higher until at last the individual soul or Jiva unites with the cosmic soul or Brahaman which is called the Moksha in Hinduism and Nirvana in Buddhism. Law of Karma The Law of Karma can be studied in three parts : Sanchit Karmas : This is the sum total of past karmas yet to be resolved. Prarabadha Karmas : It is that portion of Sanchit Karmas which are scheduled to be experienced in the present life. Kriyamana Karamas : It is the karma which is being generated presently. While some kriyamana karmas bear fruit in present life, others are stored for future births. Law of Karma is the most misunderstood Law in Hinduism. People blame the orthodox bahyavadi mentality of Hindu race on the Law of Karma. They say when everything is pre decided by God Himself and each being on Earth will enjoy or suffer as ordained so why make an effort? But what they allege is the emanation from a superficial understanding of the Law of Karma and non differentiation of Law of Karma from Law of Destiny. Whilst Law of Karma says that one has to suffer or enjoy the effects of the karmas of previous life, there is no need to

despair as human beings are endowed with intellect. Intellect equips them with the differentiating mechanism whereby they can understand the difference between good karmas and bad karmas. The Law of destiny says that in the present birth whilst enjoying or suffering the effects of past life, man has still a choice- the choice of good karmas or bad karmas in the present which will ultimately decide his future destiny. Conclusion Both the ancient religions propagate ethics, morality and good karmas via the Law of Karma and Theory of Reincarnation. There are differences in the enunciation and interpretation. Buddhism denies existence of God, soul and believes that Law of Karma works on its own, on the basis of cause and effect principle and soul is non-existent but each human being is born again and again to undergo the suffering of his previous bad karmas. Vedanta firmly establishes the existence of soul and its transmigration and further God as the universal manager. Nonetheless, both religions firmly establish the Law of Cause and Effect which is the propitiator of re-births or the cause of beings coming on Earth again and again.