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KARMA AND FREEWILL : A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF
HINDUISM, BUDDHISM AND JAINISM
Arvind Sharma
The doctrine of Karma is one of the points of agreement among the three main religions of ancient India - Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism,' even though the concept operates in somewhat different ways in the three religions. 2
A superficial understanding of the doctrine of Karma leads to its identification with fatalism on the basis of the following logic: if past actions determine present actions and present actions future actions, then past actions determine future actions and man's free-will is eliminated in the process.
Each of the three religions assert, however, that even though the consequences of one's Karma are inescapable, free-will does exist. Yet each of these three religions makes their argument in a slightly different form. It is the purpose of this paper to identify the manner in which these modalities differ.
II
There are two main ways in which Hinduisin accommodates free-will in the framework of Karma. One the them is outlined by R. N. Dandekar thus :
But, do not the individual's past deeds now become, in a sense, extraneous forces so far as his present is concerned? The past, even though it is his past, is already determined, and it determines his present, thereby leaving him no freedom to shape it as he would like. He cannot say that he will see that his actions are such that they will lead to a better life next time for the simple reason that his actions in this life are not really his, they are predetermined. Such an objection is met by the Hindu thinkers by postulating a two-fold consummation of all actions. First, every action produces its direct results which determine our present body and the
