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The Purpose of the Doctrine of Karma: Its Objective
In response to the question of why the doctrine of karma came into being, from a practical perspective, the following three main purposes can be stated:
(1) To remove the erroneous aspects of the Vedic religion's belief in God. (2) To clarify the inadequacy of Buddhism's momentary nihilism. (3) To establish the principle that karma is the cause of our experiences. A detailed explanation of these is as follows:
(1) In the India of Mahavira's time, besides Jainism, Vedic and Buddhist religions were prominent, but their doctrines differed significantly on key issues. In the original Vedas, Upanishads, Smritis, and certain Vedantic schools of thought, there was a conception of God that led the common people to believe that God is the creator of the universe, and that He is the one who makes beings experience the fruits of good or bad actions. Since karma is inert, it cannot produce its fruits without the intervention of God. No matter how high a being may be, it cannot become God through its own development; a being is just a being, not God, and salvation from the world is not possible without God's grace, etc. _There were three errors in this kind of belief: (1) The intervention of a self-sufficient God in creation without any purpose. (2) The suppression of self-autonomy. (3) Ignorance of the power of karma. To rectify these errors and to reveal the true state of affairs, Lord Mahavira propounded the doctrine of karma.
Although Buddhism denied the role of God, Buddha's main objective was to stop violence and spread compassion, and his style of presenting the truth was also in line with his immediate objective. The Tathagata Buddha believed in karma and its consequences, but his doctrine propounded momentary nihilism. Therefore, another objective of Lord Mahavira's propounding the doctrine of karma was that if the soul is considered to be momentary, then there can be no explanation for the consequences of karma.