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KARMA
In the logical development of the Hindu philosophical systems, the doctrine of Karma occupies a conspicuous place. The earliest effusions of the Aryan people, when we first find them settling on the bank of the Indus, are prayers to nature-gods, invoking them to protect themselves and their flocks and to help them in conquering their enemies. Their ceremonial corsisted of offerings of oblations to the names of deceased ancestors, sacrifices to the powers of nature and paraises of the benign forces which they had personified. This the later Hindus called the Karma-marga, the path of works in contradistinction to the Gnana-marga the path of knowledge. The Upnishads and the Bhagavad-gita treatof Karma in the above sense and the sense of duty. The Dharma-shastra precribe many ceremonials and duties under the head Karma. The Vedanta sharply distinguishes the Karma-marga from the Gnana-marga.
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