The doctrine of Karman is
the central dogma of the Indian religions. It means: every action, every
word, every thought produces, besides its visible, an invisible,
transcendental effect-the Karman: every action produces, if one may so
express it, certain potential energies which, under given conditions, are
changing themselves into actual energies, forces which, either as reward
or punishment, enter sooner or later into appearance. As in the case of a
bond which, although the amount borrowed may long ago have been spent,
continues to exist and only loses its validity on the repayment of the
capital sum, so also the invisible effect of an action remains in
existence long after the visible one has disappeared 1. This effect does
not confine itself to the present life, but continues beyond it; it
destines qualitatively and quantitatively the state after death. Actions
performed during the present existence are the causes of the future
existence, and the present life is, in its condition and duration the
result of the actions of the preceding one. Thus the natural difference
between individuals finds an explanation which is so plausible that
inversely it is adduced as a proof of the truth of the karman theory 2.
The karman doctrine involves the idea of an eternal metempsychosis; for as
in each new existence actions which must be expiated in a future life are
performed anew, so the migration of souls continues without end; but as on
the other hand every existence presupposes the actions of a preceding one,
so likewise it is without beginning. Now, however, the idea of the
eternity of the samsara, as soon as life was contemplated pessimistically,
necessarily led to the endeavor to bring the painful re-incarnation to an
end and eradicate the power of the karman. To this longing after salvation
from the painful cycle of re-births a great number of religious and
philosophical systems owe their origin, systems which, widely as they may
deviate from one another in detail, are all in agreement in belief in the
operating power of fault and of merit, in acceptance of the theory of the
migration of souls, and in striving after a nirvana.
When and where the karman
doctrine has had its origin in India we do not know; 3 only is it sure
that it existed at least a thousand years before the beginning of the
Christian Era, and has since become the basis and center of religious
thought. Although the various sets and schools are to some extent in
accord with one another in their estimation of the efficacy of the karman,
there exist great differences between them regarding its philosophical
explanation. There may be distinguished a whole scale of views, from the
most extreme realism, which regards the karman as a complexity of material
particles infecting the sinful souls, to the most extreme idealism,
according to which it is a species of newly-produced invisible force,
after all, in its highest meaning only unreal, because the entire world of
the senses is an empty illusion, a dream, a Fata Morgana.
The conception first
mentioned, the most realistic of all that have had their origin in India,
is that of the Jains, of that Indian religious community which has existed
from pre-Buddhistic times down to the present day. Their fundamental idea
is, that the soul, pure in itself, is polluted through its actions and, in
order to regain its natural state, must be freed from its stain-an idea
which is also found in other religions, but which, however, while it has
remained with them only an allegorical expression, has been adopted by the
Jains in the real sense of the word, and has been worked up into an
original system, which even now is the foundation of the belief of
one-and-a-half million people.
The karman theory of the
Jains as still taught to-day has been fully dealt with in a great number
of works. Of these up till now, as far as I know, the following have been
published: (1) the karmagranthas; (2) the Pancasamgraha; and (3) the
karmaprakrti.
The Karmagranthas
The Karmagranthas are six
books, of different dimensions, which treat of the most important points
of the karman doctrine. The text, composed in Prakrit-Gathas, and the
Sanskrit Commentary on books I-V., have been written by Devendrasuri (died
Samvat 1327 in Malava). There also exist a Commentary on the Gathas,
Balavabodhas written in Gujarati by Maticandra, Yasahsoma 1* and his pupil
Jayasoma, which is printed in the collection Prakaranaratnakara (Bombay,
Samvat 1937) Vol. IV, pp. 305 et seq. The last, the sixth Karmagrantha,
consists of some 70 Gathas, which have been taken from Drstivada by
Candramahattara 2. The most important commentary appears to be that by
Malayagiri 3 (according to Kielhorn in the 12th century A.D.), 4 which in
the edition employed is added to the text; here the number of the gathas
is 75. Peterson, Report 1883, Appendix I, p.27, mentions a manuscript,
with a commentary by Devendrasuri, which comprises 77 Gathas: "Candramahattaracarya-krtagatha
70 tatra praksiptagathakarta Devendracaryah". In the Fourth Report
(1886-1892) p.57, he mentions another manuscript which contains 89 Gathas
and makes the following comment: "At the end of the Saptatika Devendra
states that that tract is the work of Candramahattara to which he has
himself added 19 gathas, bringing the total number up to 89." According to
that, then, the original text must have contained 70 Gathas, and the one
used by Malayagiri was already enlarged by additions. In the
Prakaranaratnakara IV, pp.773 et. seq., the sixth Karmagrantha is also
furnished with a commentary. The number of the Gathas therein has been
increased by additions to 93. The variation in the number of the verses
shows that this book has been the object of extensive activity on the part
of commentators, so that it is to be supposed that divergence between the
views of different teachers has taken in it particularly acute forms. To
me the commentary of Malayagiri has alone been accessible, for which
reason deviations from the doctrine, that may have been expounded in his
commentary by Devendra, might have been unavoidable. The difference
between the views of the two masters cannot, however, have been of
far-reaching consequence, because the variations existing between the
first five Karmagranthas, explained by Devendra, and the sixth, commented
upon by Malayagiri are altogether of insignificant importance.
The Pancasamgraha
The Pancasamgraha
contains a summary of the entire karman doctrine. It consists of a great
number of Prakrit-Gathas, which emanate from Candrarsi (Candramahattara)-i.e.,
from the author of the Gathas of the sixth Karmagrantha. Its name,
Pancasamgraha "Epitome of Five Things", the book owes either to the
circumstance that is has been compiled from five older books: Sataka,
Saptatika, Kasayaprabhrta, Satkarma and Prakrti (p.3) 1* or to the five
dvaras, of which it treats, namely yogopayogamargana, bandhakah,
baddhavyam, bandhahetavah, and bandhavidhayah (p.5). It was commented upon
by Malayagiri.
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