Page 26 - Hinduism

Karma
The law of karma occupies an important place in Hindu Ethics, and it alone solves the problem of the inequalities of life and unmerited suffering. Why does the wicked man prosper in life and the good man suffer from all kinds of misery, physical, mental and social? and why does the new-born child suffer for the sins of its parents and from untold evils and why should there be evil and misery at all if there is a good God? These problems are as old as humanity itself. But of all the solutions offered, the theory of karma is the least objectionable. Evil and suffering no doubt exist but each man is responsible for the ills of life he undergoes and not God or the Devil. The theory of karma is the law of causation applied to moral life and each man reaps what he sows. The effect of karma or action done by thought, word and deed (or manas, vāk and kāya) is never lost; it is conserved in the mind-body or śarīra. The present karma is the effect of the past and is the cause of the future. In this way all karmas are connected as cause and effect and they form a series without any beginning. The law of causation operates uniformly without any exception and it is the moral law of retribution. If a man does good deeds or puṇya-karma he is rewarded and he enjoys the effect of his deeds, like health, longevity of life, prosperity, power and glory; but if he does bad deeds he is punished and he suffers for his bad acts and they lead to disease, poverty and misery. Good 26