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3) It is said that karma doctrine implies that the individual is in the grip of power, which heedless of his wishes, is working out a burden of an immemorial past. 41 Pringle-Pattison shows that the whole emphasis of the karma theory is on retribution. There is nothing redemptive in its operation. The clockwork of requital, in running down, always winds up itself again, and so in perpetuity.4 42 Karma only perpetuates the curse of existence.43 And 'to conceive this Universe as primarily a place for doling out punishment is to degrade it to the level of a glorified police court'.44
Study of Jainism
But this is a mis-interpretation of the doctrine on the basis of the inadequate knowledge of problem. This Universe is not merely pantomime with fallible marionettess, nor place for retributive punishment. It can best be described as the "vale of soulmaking". Living beings earn their karma by their activities. They are responsible for their action. Dr. Radhakrishnan says that karma is not so much a principle of retribution as one of continuity, 45 One needs to be immersed in the tradition and the element of Indian thought, if one is to understand the proper significance of the operation of karma.
4) Some have suggested that the doctrine of karma leads to unbridled individualism. It fails to see that we belong to a community, that there is what is called 'corporate sin'; It allows the fortunate ones to boast of their self-merited happiness. 46
But we should not ignore the fact that karma does not imply a hedonistic outlook on life. It does not envisage a judicial theory of reward and punishments in the hedonistic sense. Realisation of the highest self is end of life and life of sense pleasure is an impediment in the pathway to self-realisation. Mokşa or perfection is to be attained through the practice of goodness. charity and compassion. It would be more appropriate to say that karma theory awakens us to our responsibilities to society and does not make us isolated and self-centred.
Therefore, we should realise that in the karma theory there is the first assurance that in the mental and the moral worlds, as in the physical, there is no chaos, no fortuitous chance nor more
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