Hinduism

» Harsh Nevatia - karma

In response to karma posted by MOPPED:
In Hindu philosophy there exists a universal soul known as 'param atma', which is another way of describing God. Each living being also has a soul known as 'jiv atma'. The objective of existence is to try to merge the jiv atma with the param atma. This is known as salvation. The living beings are arranged in a hierarchy with the plants at the bottom, followed by the various animal species and the humans at the top. Each group has a sub-hierarchy within it. In humans at the bottom are criminals such as murderers and thieves; at the top are the saints; in between are the common people, who are neither totally good nor totally evil. In order to attain salvation a living being must move up this hierarchy. On the death of a living being the jiv atma does not die but is reborn as another living being. His 'karma' decides which living being he is born as. Simply stated karma is the actions performed by a being. If his karma has been good in his lifetime, then he will be reborn higher up in the hierarchy. If his karma has been bad in his lifetime, then he will be reborn lower down in the hierarchy. Not only that but he will be rewarded or punished for the karma of his previous life. Once he reaches the top rung in the hierarchy and maintains good karma then he will attain salvation and be free from the cycle of rebirth. On occasions if a living being performs extraordinarily good karma then he may attain salvation right away without reaching the top rung of the hierarchy. Hence we see that the life cycle is like a game of snakes and ladders.

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