The cycle of birth, death and rebirth, known in Hinduism as samsara and elsewhere as reincarnation, stands in marked contrast to the ideas of the monotheistic religions about the finality of death and the nature of afterlife. Hinduism teaches of an ongoing and progressive judgment, sometimes over many lifetimes, dictated by karma, which roughly translates as the individual’s actions in each lifetime, but which also includes the notion of an inheritance carried forward from one life to the next.
Karma is a Sanskrit word whose literal meaning is “action.” It dates back to the Upanishads—and particularly to that written by Yajnavalkya, the personal philosopher of King Janaka of Videha, a leading supporter of the peaceful, internal spirituality that was reshaping Vedic beliefs from 800 BCE onward.
Hitherto death had been seen as the preface to residence in the land of the gods for those who had correctly followed the rituals. Yajnavalkya and other Upanishadic sages proposed a new idea—that it was actions that counted, and that only when actions showed that a believer had freed himself from desire for all earthly things would he be liberated from the burden of sickness, old age and mortality in life after life, with no hope of final deliverance.
That cycle of suffering was called samsara. It could only be broken by perfect self-knowledge, which would then lead to moksha, the ultimate liberation into everlasting union with the supreme God in an ill-defined heaven. These new ideas of karma and samsara were at first controversial, but by the fifth century BCE they had captured the mainstream of Hinduism.
Yajnavalkya
The sage and astronomer Yajnavalkya, who is credited as the author of, among other sacred texts, the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, is a legendary and revered figure among Hindus. As a young student he is said to have angered his guru by taking too much pride in his own intellect. He was ordered to vomit up his knowledge as food, which was then consumed by his fellow students, who took the form of partridges. He had two wives. One of them, Maitreyi, asked him if she could achieve immortality by acquiring great wealth. He rebuked her, explaining that what she needed to do was seek throughout her life to understand the “absolute self.” Only then would she find the path to infinite knowledge and therefore immortality. Yajnavalkya warned against trying to define the concept of atman—usually taken to mean “soul” or “self.” “About this atman, one can only say ‘not, not’ … He is ungraspable, for he cannot be grasped. He is undecaying for he is not subject to decay. He has nothing sticking to him, for he does not stick to anything. He is not bound; yet he neither trembles in fear nor suffers injury.”
Cause and effect Karma illustrates Hinduism’s essential concern with how life is lived, as opposed to abstract principles of what is right and wrong. Hindus believe that every action, good or bad, has a consequence, either immediately, or during some life in the future. So bad deeds against dharma—known to Hindus as paap—bring bad karma, while good deeds (punya) result in good karma. However, there is more to this process than a simple cause and effect, with every individual responsible for their own destiny. Hindus also believe that the gods can intervene directly to change someone’s karma.
A story is told—Hinduism is as fond of such stories as Christianity is of parables—about Sandipani, a guru of Krishna, the manifestation on earth of the god Vishnu. Sandipani has lost his son to a sea demon, who has taken him to Yama, the domain of the lord of death. This is said to be the result of the son’s bad karma. Out of regard for his former teacher, Krishna/Vishnu uses his authority to bring the son back from Yama and restore him to his father. He turns bad karma into good. It is precisely this power of influence—over and above the individual’s own efforts—that for some Hindus proves the existence of God.
Prayopavesa
Prayopavesa, or fasting to death, is an accepted custom in Hinduism, but should not be equated directly with suicide. Strict conditions are applied. It must be done in a non-violent way and use natural means. It can be resorted to only when the body is exhausted and no longer functions. It cannot be undertaken impulsively: there has to be a time of preparation and for explaining to friends and relatives what is to happen. It must be entered into serenely, not when in a heightened emotional state. In November 2001, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, a noted leader of the Hindu community in the United States, took his own life by prayopavesa. He had terminal intestinal cancer. After spending a period in meditation, he refused all food and drank only water. He died after 32 days.
Varieties of karma There are several different sorts of karma in Hinduism. Sanchita karma is the total of karma from all past lives—a kind of accumulated debt. The portion of debt that the individual is working on in their current life is called the Prarabdha karma, while the Agami karma is what is to be added to or subtracted from the accumulated debt of each soul (atman) at the end of the present life. More fleeting is Kriyamana karma—sometimes called “instant karma”—which is the karma created by trivial incidents in everyday life and which has no lasting effect.
There is debate among Hindus as to how karma operates within different groups. Some argue that children and animals cannot be held responsible for their actions and so are exempt from Agami karma. However, they do carry Sanchita karma. For all Hindus the key to liberation from samsara is to exhaust your Sanchita karma, something that can only be achieved by living an ethical life with the help of the gods.
“Our destiny was shaped long before the body came into being.”
Tulsidas, Hindu scribe, 1532–1623
the condensed idea
We all live many times
| timeline | |
|---|---|
| c.800 BCE | Upanishads define karma and samsara |
| c.500 BCE | New definitions widely accepted |