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THE PRACTICAL PATH.
underlying principle of karma, is to be found in the scripture of early Hinduism when read in its ordinary sense, and it may also be stated that even when these doctrines are disentangled from the mythical skein of the vedic lore, they lack the scientific basis which they enjoy in Jainism. In this respect, early Hinduism resembles Buddhism which also acknowledges the truth of the doctrine of transmigration and the principle of karma, but does not explain the nature of bondage or transmigration in the scientific way they are dealt with in the Jaina Siddhanta. The inference these facts give rise to is plain, and, plainly put, amounts to this that the doctrines of karma, transmigration and final release were never discovered by Hindu or Buddhist philosophers, nor were they ever revealed to them by an Omniscient or all-knowing Teacher (God).
To appreciate the merit of the argument, it is necessary to remember that the doctrine of karma is a highly rational and scientific treatment of the subject of spiritual evolution, and that it is based on the principle and causes of interaction between soul and matter the absence of either of which would be absolutely fatal to its validity, since a non-existent being cannot possibly be bound, and since there can be no binding with imaginary non-existent chains. Buddhism denies the existence (eternity) of the soul, and does not regard the karmic bondage to be material in its nature, while early Hinduism has little or nothing to say on the science of spiritual evolution. These facts speak for themselves, and negative the idea of the Jainas having borrowed their elaborate system from either of them. Nor is it possible to hold that the
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