Karma and Rebirth

Author(s): T G Kalghatgi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 13

T. G. Kalghatgi
which returns as effect, that this is the universal law and nothing in the world can, being of and in our world, escape from its governing incidence. That is the philosophical reality of the theory of Karma, and that too is the way of seeing which has been developed by physical science.25
II, It is difficult to say when and where the concept of Karma originated in India. Some traced the origin of Karma in the principle of Rta. Rta is the cosmic principle. It prevades the whole world, and gods and men must obey it. It is the anticipation of the law of Karma. The concept of Řta must have been originally suggested by the regularity of the movement of the sun and the moon and the uniformity in the phenomenal world. The vedic Rșis think that Rta exists before the manifestation of all phenomena. “The Maruts come from the seat of the Rta." Vişnu is the embryo of the Rta, and heaven and earth are what they are by reason of Rta. It is difficult to say that Karma must have originated from Rta. The doctrine of Karma does not appear in the old hymns of the Rgveda. The vedic seers were mainly interested in the good of this life ; and when death came they went the way of their fathers to the world where Tuma, the first to die, ruled. The doctrine must have developed against a number of other doctrines about creation. Some regarded time as the dominant factor of creation. Others believe in nature (Svabhāva) as the prominent factor. There were other theories as well. Some, like the Jainas, rejected these views and said that even time and Svabhāva are determined by Karma, 26
The concept of Karma must have existed atleast a thousand years, before the beginning of the Christian era and has since become the basis and centre of religions.27 It is probable that Karma and Rebirth must have been pre-Aryan doctrines which were important in the śramana culture and later assimilated in the Aryan thought by the time the Upanişads were clearly formulated.
The Indian view of Karma was doubtless of non-Aryan provinance and it was a kind of natural law.28
The doctrine of Karma for the first time appears in the Upanişad and was considered a secret doctrine conveyed only to the initiates.29 It is possible that the concept of Karma was taken over from the pre-Aryan inhabitants of India, as it has been established that a high culture existed in the
25. Sri Aurobindo : The Problem of Rebirth, pp. 85-86. 26. Tatia (N): Studies in Jaina Philosophy (1951) p. 220. 27. Glassenapp (Von H.): The Dhctrine of Karma in Jaina Philosophy. Pregace to
the German Edn. 28. Ninian Smart : Doctrine & Argument in Indian Philosophy (Allen & Unmin
1964) p. 163. 29. By. Upani şad 3. 2. 13