Krishna and Buddha on Karma: A Comparative Analysis

This essay delves into a comparative analysis of the concept of karma as presented by Krishna and Buddha. The paper begins by defining karma as the law of cause and effect, where actions determine future outcomes. It then explores the Buddhist perspective, where karma is linked to intention and influences rebirth, though without a belief in a supreme being directly controlling the consequences. Buddha emphasizes that changing one's mind can alter karma and acknowledges factors beyond actions, like natural disasters. In contrast, the paper examines Krishna's perspective, which emphasizes performing good actions as a divine offering, even if results are uncertain. Krishna highlights that actions and outcomes are not always directly proportional, encouraging positive action and acceptance of results as blessings. The essay references multiple scholarly works and provides a comprehensive comparison of these two significant religious viewpoints on karma, its implications, and its influence on human life and behavior.

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Position Paper
A debate between the Hindu god Krishna and the Buddha on the topic of karma.
Karma is said to be the law of cause and effect whereby the life of a person is believed to
be shaped by the past actions and the future is said to be determined by the actions of today.
Generally, if a person sows bad habits or actions, he or she will pay it by living a suffering life
while if he or she sows goodness, he or she will reap goodness by living a joyful life
(Verhaeghen, 2015). Therefore, the suffering of human beings is religiously believed to be a
cause of their own actions and ignorance and not as God’s punishment. It is difficult to change
karma although it can be done through much prayers and repentance to God. Nonetheless, the
human beings must pay for their evil deeds. This paper features the concept of karma in Krishna
and Buddha.
The Buddhist doctrine believes that the world is developed by the actions of the people in
it. In Buddhism, karma is termed as an action which is directed by one’s intention leading to
future consequences. The intentions are said to be the influential factors in the rebirth cycle.
Although Buddha did not encourage the belief in God, karma is believed to symbolize the
animation of God. The nature of rebirth is determined by our thoughts, actions, and intentions
which bring forth some consequences which shape our lives. According to Buddha, karma
reputed the animation of a supreme being whose powers ensures that everybody reaps what he or
she sows and that no-one can escape the consequences of their doings. Although some actions

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may not bear fruits in one’s life, they are believed to do so in the life to come. However, there
must be some representations of one’s life caused by their actions. Buddha believes that for the
goodness of a person to be evidenced, the good must take an absolute form. Since it is said that
goodness can be taken to its highest position or rather the “greatest good”, it is advisable that
people strive and make efforts to remain good people by doing their best they can. This is why
Buddha claims to lead the followers to the highest goodness.
While the concept of karma ties us to rebirth in samsara due to our intentional actions,
Buddha leads us the way out of samsara. According to the Buddhists, the law of karma operates
in a complex manner whereby although the past actions have got an influence on the present life,
the present actions still affect the present life and also shape the future life (Rastogi, Ashish, &
Surya, 2015). Since our thoughts and attitudes shape the life, karma can be changed by changing
the minds. Buddha argues that besides karma, some other factors may shape our lives such as
natural calamities. For instance, an earthquake may not necessarily mean karmic punishment but
rather an ill-fated incident which calls for a kindhearted response.
Lord Krishna argues that one should create oneness with eternity and perform good
actions through the force of nature. According to Lord Krishna, karma can be a causal factor in
the present life and the life after, but various other factors also shape the life. He argues that one
should pursue good actions without ceasing and do it as a divine offering even after attaining
perfection for the goodness of the entire world. He gave an example of Janaka who continued
performing good actions even after realizing God. Sri Krishna argues that no matter how much
we strive to do good or bad, we can never be sure of the results. This is because there always
exists some variables which interfere with our actions hence producing unexpected results. He
argues that our actions are not directly proportional to the results thereof, hence the results can be

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a mixture of good and bad actions. Therefore, it is not wise to judge a person emotionally based
on the results of some actions. However, this does not mean that we fail to cogitate our thoughts
before acting based on the assumption that the karma’s results are random. He encourages
everyone to act in a way that the desire is to attain favorable results since karma is still in place.
This means that one should do their activities in a positive spirit of duty without the expressive
connection of the karma law (Brown, 2014). He discourages laziness and ignorant and says that
people should plan their likes and desires regardless of the failure of karma to cause the expected
results. He thus encourages people to perform swadharma which means doing all the things
positively as an offering to the Lord and embracing all the results as blessings without
complaints.
Generally, karma is believed to be a law of nature which implies that people reap what
they sow and that they cannot escape the punishment of their wrong-doings and that those who
act in a good manner enjoy a blessed life. Buddha argues that for goodness to earn value, it must
be of the highest quality and that alongside karma, natural factors can also shape our lives
(Abraham, 2017). Lord Krishna argues that the law of karma is not directly related to our
actions. Good actions may yield bad results and vice versa. However, he encourages people to be
always on the positive side and act as offering to God and if bad results happen, they also accept
them with thankfulness.

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Work Cited
Abraham, Licyamma. "Hinduism and Its Symbols." (2017). Print.
Keown, Damien. The nature of Buddhist ethics. Springer, 2016. Print
Verhaeghen, Paul. "Good and Well: The Case for Secular Buddhist Ethics." Contemporary
Buddhism 16.1 (2015): 43-54. Print.
Hanson, Virginia, Shirley Nicholson, and Rosemarie Stewart, eds. Karma: Rhythmic Return to
Harmony. Quest Books, 2014. Print.
Kalra, Bharti, et al. "Transgenerational karma." Indian journal of endocrinology and
metabolism 21.2 (2017): 265. Print
Brown, Shelley. "The power of karma yoga in human development." International Journal of
Development Issues13.3 (2014): 242-249. Print
Rastogi, Ashish, and Surya Prakash Pati. "Towards a conceptualization of Karma Yoga." (2015):
51-63. Print
Muniapan, Balakrishnan, and Biswajit Satpathy. "The ‘Dharma’and ‘Karma’of CSR from the
Bhagavad-Gita." Journal of Human Values 19.2 (2013): 173-187. Print