“Karma creates all, like an artist, karma composes, like a dancer.” ~The Buddha (Saddharmapundarika Sutra)
According to the karma of past actions, one's destiny unfolds , even though everyone wants to be so lucky. ~Sri Guru Granth Sahib
Karma is an integral part of the Vedic culture and so prominent that any religion which has evolved in the land of Bharat has circled around it. The Vedic scriptures which consists of Samhitas (prayers), Brahmanas (rituals) and Aranyakas (meditation) are together termed as Karma Kanda. This section of the Vedas give the guidance for Pravritti Marga or the path of progressive action to lead human life.
Born in an Indian family be it Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh we are always taught we reap the fruits of our karma be in this life or the next. So the life conditions we are into are not only because of our actions in this life but those of our past lives which are Prarabda Karma i.e. past accumulated actions due to be converted as fate in current life. People are told they would take inferior birth or suffer if they do not perform duly what is said in Karma Kanda vs. the sufferings of current birth are also accredited to Karma phala or actions of past life.
Now if we think, this fear of Karma is restricted within the Indian sub-continent, it will only be an underestimation. The idea has given itself dynamic faces and appeared in various theologies such as Judaism. The concept of 'original sin' is a weak contender of the concept of Karma phala which rendered due to the sin of Adam and Eve human kind should suffer, so they must surrender to Yah-weh and follow the 'ten commandments' duly.
While drafting the 'action items' (read Karma Kanda and Ten Commandments), the religions accrued the burden of fear of non-performance and human evils springing out of such non-conformity. One such was fear of action. This is evident in Arjuna's dilemma before the beginning of the Kurukshetra war, the exploitation of the Jews by the Rabbis and our confusions regarding the way of our lives. However, this fear of action was banished by two great men who cannot be called historical but who have profound influence in humanity - Krishna and Christ.
On one hand, where Krishna tells Arjuna to abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender to him and he shall deliver Arjuna from all sinful reactions, asking the latter not to fear (BG 18.66); On the other hand, Christ calls out to his followers that he is the door and will save any man who puts his faith in Christ (NT John 10.9). Thus these two deities have cast away the fear of action and promised salvation of the soul. Whether they really make a valid offer is a matter of eternal debate but the fact cannot be denied that people do get inspiration, confidence and peace from these words.
Of course it is not necessary to believe in any of the aforesaid ideologies and theologies and one may lead a satisfactory life by adapting to the circumstances and even conquering them with self-belief. This self-belief is nothing but faith in this on the self while in above cases on rules of the religions and deities. So let us not fear the unavoidable and look for ways how to realize better of the best from the life.
Om Tat Sat
