Karma as a philosophical concept
The word “Karma” is derived from the Sanskrit word karman, meaning “act,” The law of Karma in its different aspects may be regarded as the law of the conservation of moral values. The concept is beautifully described in a stanza of book eight of Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold:
That which ye sow ye reap. See yonder fields!
The sesamum was sesamum, the corn Was corn.
The Silence and the Darkness knew!
So is a man’s fate born
Here the present circumstances of a person are termed as fate. But this fate is not an arbitrary assignment. It is the result of our past actions. Just as a seed grows into a plant, our past actions fructify into our current circumstances which we have to bear and term it as fate. It is neither God’s injustice nor demonic mischief that we face evil. Our suffering is due to our own actions. Further our current actions determine the conditions of the future. Hence we ourselves determine our own destiny. Good begets good and vice versa.
But this philosophical conception has a flaw and is still incomplete. We often see that there is injustice in this world. Very often Corrupt and Powerful get away with serious crimes while innocents suffer. This experiential fact does not sit well with the law of Karma. This is where the metaphysical concept of rebirth comes in.
Karma in Religion- Rebirth and Bondage.
Rebirth is one of the central tenets of Indian religious teachings. It refers to the idea that the soul can begin a new life after the death of its physical body, in another body. The impressions of Karma called samskaras can transfer from one life to the next. Hence, if someone seems to be suffering disproportionately, then it can be explained by their bad deeds in past lives. Similarly if misdeeds of a person remain unaccountable in the present life, one can be sure that Karma will catch up in the next life. Karma is not only the action and its consequences, it is also the force that assigns the fruits of actions to the individuals. Karma is impartial, unbiased and devoid of empathy. It simply acts as a rule follower without any favour or ill will towards its recipients.
During one’s lifetime, one performs actions and accumulates its fruits. These are borne in the next life but again by the virtue of performing actions, the cycle repeats itself. Gautama, the Buddha identified this Vicious cycle and named it samsara chakra which is a form bondage of the self. It is easy to see why. Consider an analogy. You are stuck in a time loop like the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. You wake up every day which can be seen as analogous to being born. You live throughout the day and when you sleep it is equivalent to death. Repeating this cycle everyday without any memory of the previous day would result in an endless monotony. Present day existential philosophers may recognise it as an existential angst-a process without a purpose. In the context of multiple lives lived through rebirth, this despair can intensify to even a greater degree from which even death cannot save. Because of this sense of entrapment, this endless cycle is termed as bondage.
#karma #spirituality #lawofkarma #vedanta
Script: Ankit Kumar
Score: Medo
Voiceover: Surjit Singh
Original Score: Motion array, epidemic music & Original soundstracks
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