Are Contradictions And Complications Within The Hindu Karma Doctrine?

Contradictions and Complications within the Hindu Karma Doctrine

In the Hindu religion of India, the concept of karma is a major tenant of the faith. The law of karma says that “every act, either in thought or deed, has a consequence for future reincarnations” (Matthews 80). Many verses in sacred Hindu texts reaffirm this doctrine, and it affects much of the way that Hindus live their lives. However, there are also sections of sacred Hindu texts that complicate the law of karma. The Upanishads complicate the law of karma by introducing the concept of divine grace.

The Hindu religion has several sacred texts that believers rely upon for guidance in how to live their lives; the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads. For the

According to Reichebach, “if God cannot intervene in human affairs according to his will and contrary to the rigid dictate of the law of karma, what value is there to religious observances and especially to petitionary prayer?” (p. 146). As Reichenbach illustrates, belief in one, either the law of karma or a greater deity, seems to cancel out belief of the other, at least simplistically.

As complicated as the Upanishads verse makes karma in relation to belief in a greater god, the two have existed together in the Hindu religion for thousands of years. It’s possible that those practicing Hinduism have a better perspective on the matter than outsiders can hope for. It’s also possible that, complicated though it may be, the two ideas actually do work in tandem. The key comes in how one understands the two diverging beliefs. As illustrated by Reichenbach:

God’s grace must not be understood as affecting merit or demerit earned per se. Neither does he give a person less or more than his karma merits, nor does he forgive accumulated karma. Rather, his grace comes through the removal of impedements to attaining proper insight into one’s nature and through the one-pointed mind necessary to achieve liberation. God facilitates liberation by speeding up the karma-eliminating process. (p.

At its base, karma is a law of cause and effect, without divine intervention, which lends itself well to a secular viewpoint. As Reichenbach said:

If karma is held to be inviolable or necessary, there would be no room for individual acts of divine grace and forgiveness. Each cause would have its appropriate effect; each individual would get the fruits of his actions, according to the principle of just desserts. (p. 146)

Therefore, because there is no need for divine intervention within the law of karma, it can be secularized for the world at large.

Works Cited

1. “The Bhagavadgita.” Sacred-texts. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

2. Krishan, Yuvraj. The Doctrine of Karma. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997. Print.

3. Matthews, Warren. World Religions. 7th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2013. eBook.

4. Reichenbach, Bruce R. “Karma, Causation, and Divine Intervention.” Philosophy of East and West 39.2 (1989): 135-149. JSTOR. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

5. “The Upanishads, Part II.” Sacred-texts. Web. 22 Oct.