Hinduism

=== Karma and saṃsāra ===
{{Main|Karma}}
''Karma'' translates literally as ''action'', ''work'', or ''deed'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Apte |first=Vaman S |url=https://archive.org/details/studentsenglishs00apte_271 |title=The Student's English-Sanskrit Dictionary |publisher=Motilal Banarsidas |year=1997 |isbn=978-81-208-0300-8 |edition=New |location=Delhi}}</ref> and also refers to a Vedic theory of "moral law of cause and effect".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Huston |year=1991 |title=The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions |location=San Francisco |publisher=Harper |isbn=978-0-06-250799-0 |page=64 |author-link=Huston Smith |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/worldsreligions000smit}}</ref><ref>Karl Potter (1964), "The Naturalistic Principle of Karma", ''Philosophy East and West'', Vol. 14, No. 1 (April 1964), pp. 39–49</ref> The theory is a combination of (1) causality that may be ethical or non-ethical; (2) ethicisation, that is good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth.<ref name="wdointro">Wendy D. O'Flaherty (1980), ''Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions'', University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0-520-03923-0}}, pp. xi–xxv (Introduction) and 3–37</ref> Karma theory is interpreted as explaining the present circumstances of an individual with reference to his or her actions in the past. These actions and their consequences may be in a person's current life, or, according to some schools of Hinduism, in past lives.<ref name=wdointro /><ref>Karl Potter (1980), in ''Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions'' (O'Flaherty, Editor), University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0-520-03923-0}}, pp. 241–267</ref> This cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth is called ''[[saṃsāra]]''. Liberation from saṃsāra through moksha is believed to ensure lasting [[Ānanda (Hindu philosophy)|happiness]] and [[Peace#Hinduism|peace]].{{sfn|Radhakrishnan|1996|p=254}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vivekananda |first=Swami |title=Jnana Yoga |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-4254-8288-6 |author-link=Swami Vivekananda |pages=301–302}} (8th Printing 1993)</ref> Hindu scriptures teach that the future is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the circumstances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chapple|first=Christopher Key|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSrzLfyHvxYC&q=Karma+and+Creativity|title=Karma and Creativity|date=1986|publisher=[[SUNY Press]]|isbn=978-0-88706-250-6|pages=60–64|access-date=2 June 2021|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328164244/https://books.google.com/books?id=QSrzLfyHvxYC&q=Karma+and+Creativity#v=snippet&q=Karma%20and%20Creativity&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The idea of [[reincarnation]], or [[saṃsāra]], is not mentioned in the early layers of historical Hindu texts such as the ''Rigveda''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boyer |first=A. M. |year=1901 |title=Etude sur l'origine de la doctrine du samsara |journal=Journal Asiatique |volume=9 |issue=18 |pages=451–453, 459–468}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Krishan |first=Yuvraj |title=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1997 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |isbn=978-81-208-1233-8}}</ref> The later layers of the ''Rigveda'' do mention ideas that suggest an approach towards the idea of rebirth, according to Ranade.{{sfn|Laumakis|2008|pp=90–99}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Ranade |first=R. D. |url=https://archive.org/stream/A.Constructive.Survey.of.Upanishadic.Philosophy.by.R.D.Ranade.1926.djvu/A.Constructive.Survey.of.Upanishadic.Philosophy.by.R.D.Ranade.1926#page/n181/mode/2up |title=A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1926 |pages=147–148 |quote=...&nbsp;in certain other places [of Rigveda], an approach is being made to the idea of Transmigration. ... There we definitely know that the whole hymn is address to a departed spirit, and the poet [of the Rigvedic hymn] says that he is going to recall the departed soul in order that it may return again and live.}}</ref> According to Sayers, these earliest layers of Hindu literature show ancestor worship and rites such as ''sraddha'' (offering food to the ancestors). The later Vedic texts such as the ''Aranyakas'' and the ''Upanisads'' show a different soteriology based on reincarnation, they show little concern with ancestor rites, and they begin to philosophically interpret the earlier rituals.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sayers |first=Matthew R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3AOBwiZBjRMC |title=Feeding the Dead: Ancestor worship in ancient India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-989643-1 |pages=1–9 |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230123257/https://books.google.com/books?id=3AOBwiZBjRMC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |first=Matthew Rae |last=Sayers |title=Feeding the ancestors: ancestor worship in ancient Hinduism and Buddhism |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/3945 |page=12 |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163432/https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/3945 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Sayers |first=Matthew R. |date=1 November 2015 |editor-last=McGovern |editor-first=Nathan |title=Feeding the Dead: Ancestor worship in ancient India |url=https://academic.oup.com/jhs/article/8/3/336/2358466 |journal=The Journal of Hindu Studies |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=336–338 |doi=10.1093/jhs/hiv034 |issn=1756-4255 |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204170604/https://academic.oup.com/jhs/article/8/3/336/2358466 |url-status=live }}</ref> The idea of reincarnation and karma have roots in the [[Upanishads]] of the late [[Vedic period]], predating the [[Buddha]] and the [[Mahavira]].<ref name="damienkeown32">{{cite book |last=Keown |first=Damien |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QXX0Uq29aoC |title=Buddhism: A very short introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-966383-5 |pages=28, 32–38 |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328164154/https://books.google.com/books?id=_QXX0Uq29aoC |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Laumakis|2008}}