Karma is the bedrock of almost all Indian religions. Karma is used to explain all human interactions. Everyone, from intellectual to the illiterate, wealthy to the pauper, elite to the uncouth, innately feels its influence. Joyous or tragic, whatever may be the situation, Karma is said to be the cause. Karma moves the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The very purpose of life is to find release from Karma. Therefore, a basic understanding of Karma is essential to understand our society.
The term "Karma" refers to action. Action, i.e. Karma, has effect. The effect of Karma is something like the Newton's third law of motion -- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. But, the effect of Karama is (i) invisible, (iii) may not manifest immediately, and (iii) accumulates over time. Karma can be physical or mental and the effect can also be physical or mental.
All of this is quite reasonable. In the U.S. people call this, "what goes around, comes around". Our actions do have consequences. We have to live with the consequences of the choices we make. Smoking causes cancer, bad diet causes a variety of health problems, breaking the law lands you in jail, being nasty to people will make you a jerk, etc., etc. In many of these cases we may not be able to show a clear cause and effect relationship. But no one will dispute that these are instances of cause-and-effect relationship. Often, the consequences may not show up immediately. Be nasty to somebody and you will face the consequences rather quickly. But if you choose to smoke the effect may show up only later in life.
To this extent the concept of Karma is quite reasonable. But, the doctrine of Karma is much more.
Vedas declare three types of Karma, (i) ordained Karma, (ii) forbidden Karma, and (iii) optional Karma. Ordained Karma are actions that must be performed. No benefits are derived by the performance of this type of Karma, but failure to perform them will result in sin, i.e. "papam". One example of this type of Karma is "Sandhyavandhanam". In other words, action does not provide any benefit, but inaction results in sin ("papam"). The reverse is true in the case of forbidden Karma. Action results in sin and inaction does not provide any benefit. Examples of this kind of Karma include telling lies, Shudra reciting Vedas, etc. Optional Karma, the third kind of Karma, are to be performed for some specific benefit. The effect of the performance of this kind of Karma is the enjoyment of the resulting benefit. However, non-performance will not result in sin. Vedas prescribe certain rituals for certain desired benefits. For example, the Vedas promise progeny as the benefit of performing Puthra Kama Homa. Feeding the poor is another example of optional Karma that results in accumulation of "punyam".
Further, the doctrine of Karma claims all Jivathmas (souls) carry an accumulated load of "punyam" and "papam" resulting from the Karma performed by the Jivathma over the course of its uncountable lives. In between two lives, the Jivathmas are given appropriate bodies and with these bodies they enjoy the benefits of the "punyam" in Swargam (heaven) or suffer the consequences of "papam" in Naragam (hell). Then, the Jivathmas are born into this material universe as a member of one of the infinitely many lifeforms. The particular lifeform a Jivathma is born into is a function of the balance of its "punyam" and "papam".
A preponderance of "punyam" results in privileged birth, such as a male birth in one of the three higher order Varnas, namely, Brahmana, Kshathriya, or Vaisya. Female birth or birth in Shudra Varna will result if the balance of Karma lens in the direction of "papam". In other words, a male birth in one of the higher three Varnas indicates "punya" from previous births. A female or a Shudra birth indicates "papam" from previous births. This is the doctrine of Karma.
The doctrine of Karma is the intellectual foundation of the patriarchal and Varnashrama Dharma based society we live in. Karma from previous births is the reason d'etre for the injustices we see everyday. If a rich man loses his only son in an accident, it is due to Karma. If he bags a lucrative contract, it is due to Karma. If the outcaste suffer daily indiginities, it is due to Karma.
O n the flip side, though, one who faithfully fulfills the duties of his or her station, i.e. caste and gender, there is "punyam" to be had, the "punyam" that can allow upward mobilization in a future life. A Shudra who lives as prescribed by the scriptures, will, as the result o good conduct, will be rewarded with higher birth. The doctrine of Karma demands abject acceptance of present conditions, agreeable or disagreeable, during the reality of present life. All the rewards are promised for a presumed future life.
Thus, one of the most important results of Karma doctrine is the Varnashrama (caste) system. Balance of "papam" and "punyam" determine the Varna and gender into which a Jivathma is born. This, then, determines the rights, privileages, and duties. This system, by its very nature, requires Varna purity to be maintained, else how would the duties and privileages determined. Therefore, endogamy is strictly enforced. Violations of endomamy result in immediate ostracization. The progeny from such unions are cast aside as outside the pale of society. Manu in his treatise has put down detailed rules for the hierarchical degrdation, proportional to the degree of social separation between the partners of an exogenous union. These outcasts are polluting even to the sight. They are required to perform all the degrading labor for the benefit of the dominant caste. They are required to perform all the hard labor. Yet, they are not allowed to use any of the prime-resources of the village, such as water, roads, temple, etc. They have to live outside the village and use only substandard resources that the dominant caste don't care to want. These practices continue even to this day in the villages and small towns of India. Disputes between land-owning dominant caste and peasants castes often end with the peasant outcasts violently put down.
In the last 50 to 60 years, the Brahmanas have mostly moved away from the villages to large towns and cities. There are many reasons for this including education and opportunities for advancement. But, the fact the social justice movement, started by Mr. E.V. Ramaswami, targeted the Brahmanas exclusively has also contributed to this trend. Therefore, the atrocities, in the present, against the weak and powerless in the villages, are not committed by the Brahmanas, but by the dominant Shudra caste. Most Brahmanas are indeed appalled by these actions. They always protest that Brahmanas are peace loving and will not hurt anybody. This is true. But, the Brahmins cannot escape responsibility so long as they occupy the upper echelons of religious authority from which the justification for Varnashrama system is derived. If the Brahmanas are not to be held responsible, their religious leaders, such as Sankracharyas, Jeeyars, Andavan, etc., must openly repudiate the doctrine of Karma. Karma is the rationale for the Varna division. Sans Karma, there is no rational for birth based Varna division. Therefore, for Varna to be eradicated the doctrine of Karma must be rejected first.
Since I was born into the Brahmana community, and practiced its tenets for a long time, I have no illusions of this happening. What is practical is for individual Brahmanas to cast aside the yoke of Karma that binds us with other less fortunate ones, through a system of dominance and exploitation. If more and more Brahmanas reject their Varna and repudiate its practice, the less justification the dominant Shudra caste will have for their atrocities. Among the concrete actions we can take are, allowing anyone to become Archakas, allowing anyone interested to learn and recite the Vedas, acquiescing marriage across caste lines, rejecting all forms of astrology, etc.
In summary, Karma is well and good, just as long as the casue and effect do not get into presumed prior and future births.
