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Law of Karma
happiness. Moral life is always active and is never exhausted. It takes endless forms, owing to the variety of the demands of the conditions of human life. This process goes on for ever, unless perfect knowledge is gained. Perfect knowledge consumes the seed of karma and makes rebirth impossible. Freedom from the subjection of the Law of Karma is the end of human life. To get rid of Avidyā is to be freed from the Law of Karma.
But it does not however follow that we are determined by our past karmas. In fact, we are free to do our act. God is only the assisting medium, conserving the fruits of his action. God never compels man to do this or that. Even those tendencies with which we are bound can be overcome by the strength of will. Man is not a mere sum total of his impulses. There is the Infinite in him. He possesses freedom within him. He can act according to his own choice. "The history of man is not a puppet show. It is a creative evolution."16
Contemporary Indian Thinkers
The contemporary Indian thinkers like Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi, Vivekananda and Dr. Radhakrishnan have been greatly influenced by the traditional Indian views. Aurobindo accepts the law of karma both in the metaphysical and moral context. According to him, man's being, nature, circumstances of life etc., are the results of his own inner and outer activities. He is what he has made himself. The past man was the father of the present man and the present man will be the father of the man that will be. Each man reaps what he sows. He also admits the reasonability of the Law of Karma. In other words, good must bring good results and evil must bring evil results.
But the originality of Sri Aurobindo lies in the fact that, according to him, this law cannot be the sole and the absolute determinant of this universe. As the fundamental truth of our being is spiritual, it must be our soul that would determine its own evolution, and the Law of Karma can only be one of
