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FRAGMENTS OF A PRISONER'S DIARY
invalidated, or an unattainable ideal is placed before the aspirant for spiritual salvation. If the law of karma is immutable, then, onc inay do good deeds without wishing the result, yet he shall necessarily enjoy the fruits of those dieds. He may go to the Heaven, and there is no freedoin even in Heaven. Regarded as a deterininist law, the doctrine of kurma renders the ideal of frecdom unattainable. Consequently, it militaiis against the higher ideal of nish kam karma. But lirere is some sense in this apparent madness. The two seemingly contradictory ideals supplement cach other for forging the chain of social slavery for the masses. The doctrine of karma teaches everyone to be reconciled to his fate. But, on the other hand, it may make him to be more discriminating about his acts in the prescot and in the future. The failure to be rewarded for meritorious acts naturally discourages conformity with the established standards of virtuosity and good behaviour. Therefore, a higher ideal is set up, so that one may not hanker after the reward, and behave in the prescribed manner permissible for the maintenance of the established social order.
However, there is no use trying to make the prisoners see that they are not in jail entirely for their fault, that the “crimes " for which they are punished, in most cases, are committed under the pressure of circumstances not created by themselves and beyond their control. The social background 180
