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[ 153 ) From a careful study of the Paurāpic .religious culture it would seem that in ancient times as in modern days the doctrine of karma did not take any roots in other parts of the world. A study of religious and spiritual systems of the world would reveal the fact that the doctrine of Karma is not a new outlandish growth in this country but has come down from the most remote time. In the midst of a worldwide culture where faith in Karma was practically non-existent. What is said in the Vişņu Purāpa does not represent the history of a particular time but it stands for what is true for all times from the remotest past.
The distinction between Karmabhumi and Bhogabhūmi is very important; it shows that the activities of men belonging to countries described as Bhogabhūmi, do not bear fruit in life after death. They fructify themselves in the course of this life. It is for this reason that these actions do not lead to a man even to a state of inaction leading to liberation. This is a clear indication of the fact that people in all parts of the world except in India did not believe in Karma as it is done here ( India ). . It is for this reason that all these regions are meant for bhoga i. e, either enjoyment or worldly happiness or suffering of worldly troubles. It also appears that people in India due to some sort of frailties or errors may be reborn in those countries and may come back to India after the consequences of the karmas are fully reaped. It is well known that Svarga is a bhogabhūmi as much as Naraka is. As in those regions no fresh karma can be generated, in the same way no fresh karma is possible in bodies born in those countries. For one aspiring after heaven or after final emancipation birth in India is essential. This is as the ancient Indian used to think due to the fact that as no new karma can be generated in a subhuman or animal body or a superhuman or a celestial body but a human body is necessary, in the same way the human bodies in other parts of the world from this point of view are considered to be non-human. That is there in the technical phraseology of the Indian Purāņas, bodies which are capable of reaping the fruits of past karmas but not generating fresh karmas.
