Karma and Rebirth

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

Page 43

T. G. Kalghatgi
not all. The Jaina theory of Karma emphasises that by individual efforts at moral and spiritul development we can reduce the intensity of Karma, suppress its effects or even annihilate. We have seen that one can, by suitable efforts, transform the energy of one form of Karma into that of another" as we can transform electrical energy into that of heat and light. Repetence is not to be taken as the final end. It only creates an atmosphere for moral efforts towards self-realisation. It is at best a powerful psychological means which would help us in the attainment of spiritual perfection. If repentence were sufficient to lead to purification, the aftereffects of past action cannot be accounted for, nor can they be explained away, as that would be contrary to the laws of physical and moral nature.
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5. Karma doctrine implies that sin is a finite offence that can be made good by private temporary punishment. It presupposes that we can make good our sin which is entirely beyond our power.
It is also said that the dominant impression that one gets of the Karma doctrine is that the individual is in the grip of power, which, heedless of his own wishes, is working out a burden of an immemorial past. 45
Pringle-Pattison shows that the whole emphasis of the Karma theory is on retribution. There is nothing redemptive in its operation, and the process becomes an endless one, leading to no goal of ultimate release. He quotes Deussen and says that expiation involves further action which in turn involves. expiation, and thus the process is endless. The clock work of requital, in running down, always winds itself up again, and so in perpetuity, Accumulation of merit may ease a future life, but it would not suffice to effect a release from the wheel of life. Even when a new world follows after the deluge in the cycle of worlds, it does not start with a clean balancesheet, as the operation of will proceeds from the point where it was suspended, 47 Karma only perpetuates the curse of existence, So, the Karma doctrine 'seems open to the criticism to which the vindictive theory of punishment has been subjected in modern times."40 times.'49 To conceive this universe as primarily a place for doling out punishment is to degrade it to the level of a glorified police-court, The dominant note in the objection is that to make good our sin is beyond our power and the emphasis on the retribution element in the doctrine of Karma makes this world frightful
44. Karma Grantha. II.
45. Sigfrid Estborn: The Christian Doctrine of Salvation (1958), p. 68. 46. Pringle Pattison (A Seth): The Idea of Immortality (1922) p. 115.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid., p. 119.
50. Ibid., p. 120.