How does one define KARMA?
Karma is the concept of “action” or “deed” in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies. The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others. The results or ‘fruits’ of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one’s present life and all past and future lives as well.The concept of karma (along with reincarnation, samsara, and moksha) may originate in the shramana tradition of which Buddhism and Jainism are continuations. This tradition blended with Brahmanic religion in the early Vedantic (Upanishadic) movement of the 1st m
Identifying the Source and the Basis The teaching of reincarnation requires that the soul be immortal. The origin of reincarnation, then, must be traced to those peoples or nations that held such a belief. On this basis, some think that it originated in ancient Egypt. Others hold that it got started in old Babylonia. To create prestige for the Babylonian religion, its priesthood advanced the doctrine of transmigration of the soul. They could thus claim that their religious heroes were reincarnations of notable, though long dead, ancestors. The Hindu wheel of life It was in India, however, that belief in reincarnation came to full bloom. The Hindu sages were grappling with the universal problems of evil and of suffering among humans. ‘How can these be harmonized with the concept of a righteous Creator?’ they asked. They tried to resolve the conflict between God’s righteousness and the unforeseen calamities and inequalities in the world. In time, they devised “the law of karma,” the law
Bg Introduction Prakrti itself is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. Above these modes there is eternal time, and by a combination of these modes of nature and under the control and purview of eternal time there are activities which are called karma. These activities are being carried out from time immemorial, and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. For instance, suppose I am a businessman and have worked very hard with intelligence and have amassed a great bank balance. Then I am an enjoyer. But then say I have lost all my money in business; then I am a sufferer. Similarly, in every field of life we enjoy the results of our work, or we suffer the results. This is called karma. Isvara (the Supreme Lord), jiva (the living entity), prakrti (nature), eternal time and karma (activity) are all explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, material nature and time are
