Karma
If there exists one common, underlying principle connecting Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, three of the major religious traditions of the East, that unifying principle would have to be the law of karma. Though each tradition understands the law of karma differently, the basic foundation for the law remains intact throughout all three of these religious traditions: the consequences of an action, good or bad, will affect the performer of the action at some point in the future. From its mysterious origins in Vedic Indian literature, to its permeating of all aspects of modern Eastern society, the law of karma is indeed an important key in better understanding the essence of the three aforementioned traditions in the context of one another. Perhaps the way to best examine the fundamental nature of this common principle, in order to understand fully its breadth of sig
That which they spoke about was karma and that which they praised! was action: one indeed becomes good by good action, bad by bad [action]" (qtd. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1983Chapple, Christopher. Some scholars point to the context of Yajnavalkya's comments, taking place at a ritual funeral, as evidence of the continuity of the concept of karma, in the form of actions affecting future events, from earlier ritualistic Brahmanic literature; for while Brahmanic literature concentrated on the "moral effects of ritual action," the Upanishadic tradition "measured the moral efficacy of actions in all contexts" (Tull 42). The Brahmanic origin of karma further hinted at by vague references in the Satapatha Brahmana to "a series of deaths which the person undergoes . What is widely regarded as the earliest explicit mention of the karma doctrine can be found in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, in the context of a discussion taking place at a funeral between the sage Yajnavalkya and Artabhaga, his contemporary, about the afterlife: "Having gone aside, they engaged in a consultation. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1986. Karma: An Anthropological Inquiry.
Common topics in this essay:
Vedic Indian,
Brhadaranyaka Upanishad,
Satapatha Brahmana,
Buddhism Jainism,
Yajnavalkya Artabhaga,
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law karma,
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