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Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo
Here, a question may be raised as to why actions alone, good or bad, should have its results. The answer is that good or evil thoughts, feelings and actions have their corresponding results, but action is the greater part of life. One is not held responsible for his feelings but he is held responsible for action. It is mainly his actions that construct his fate. Actions are the chief or most forceful determinants of his being and his future.
For Aurobindo, there is no reason to accuse nature of injustice because it works accordingly. Human beings are either happy or unhappy on account of their accumulated actions. Nobody is responsible for his good or bad fortune. "He reaps, what he sows."
But, as stated earlier, we quite often see some people getting reward without efforts while some are not getting it inspite of their best efforts. So, we are compelled to think that there is indeed in our life an element of luck or fortune. It is difficult to accept the simple solution for a forgotten virtuous action in a past life and bad luck a return for a sin or crine. When we see a righteous person suffering here, it is difficult to believe that he was a sinner in his past life. Nor can a wicked person be believed that he was a saint in his previous life, that is why he is enjoying. That a total change of this kind between life and life is possible on the mechanical theory of rewards and punishments does not seem sufficient. This simple logic of co-relation is not so strong as it claims to be. The idea of retribution of Karma as a compensation for the injustice of life and Nature is a feeble basis. As it is based on unsound logic, there must be some stronger foundation,
Aurobindo is aware of this difficulty and says that a truly ethical being does not need a system of reward and punishment to follow the path of good and shun the path of sin. Nor can good fortune or evil fortune be taken as if they existed merely as incentives. It is for experience, for growth of the individual being that the soul enters into rebirth. Joy and pain, fortune and misfortune are the parts of that experience, means of that growth. To quote him, “All the secret of the circumstances of rebirth centres around the one capital need of
