Karma in Hinduism

Running head: KARMA IN HINDUISM
Karma in Hinduism
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1KARMA IN HINDUISM
Hinduism refers to a religion based in India which is widely practised within Indian
subcontinent. It is the oldest religion within the world and there exist some scholars who call
it “Sanatana Dharma” or “eternal tradition”. Karma means action or a deed that is indicative
of spiritual principle in relation to the cause and the effect (Fitzpatrick et al. pp 160). Karma
means that the deeds of an influence has an effect on future of an individual Karma has
origins in the Vedic civilization of ancient India and the concept of Karma is associated with
idea of the rebirth in various schools of the Indian religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and
Jainism. This essay states that the concept of karma deeply has an impact on life of a Hindu.
The essay also discusses that there exists a deep relationship between karma and dharma. The
essay brings out that Karma has an influence on the aspect of reincarnation.
The philosophical concepts of Hindus states that man has two principles that opposes
each other- soul or the atman or body called sarira. It is held that atman is indestructible and
the body on the other hand is destructible and temporal. The union in between the atman and
the body can be said to be accidental. Avidya along with karma are basic presupposition in
relation to Hinduism. Avidya is indicative of ignorance and on account of avidya atman gets
joined with the physical body. The Hindu philosophy believes that nature of the birth or
condition of body that gets united with the atman is dependent on karma. Karma is derived
from a Sanskrit verbal root that means “to do”. Karma is indicative of moral debit of actions
that has been committed by an individual (Petkova, pp 10). Karma means all kinds of actions
that can be good or it can be bad. The action can be religious and it can also be worldly. The
action of an individual produces the fruit or phala. According to Hindu philosophy, an actor
has to experience results pertaining to his own actions (Sudarsana, pp 230). The behaviour of
a person paves the way for appropriate reward or the punishment that is commensurate with
the behaviour of an individual. This is the inevitable law of the retribution in the Hindu
philosophy. Karma can be said to be law of the cause and the effect that can be applied to life