Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
178or a state of affairs pertaining to that particular individual (perhaps even a
c ollec t ive). T he effec t of Z might be pleasurable (sukha) or it might be painful and
induc e suffering (dukkha), but this is the retribution entailed in the causal network
t hat is it self an inexorable manifest at ion of dharma.
Furt her, t he idea of an infinit e possibilit y of ac t ion-retribution suggests to the
Indian mind the idea of rebirth, for merit or virtue appears to be in need of being
rewarded, and demerit punished, ac c ording to the Law of Karma. Thus merit or
demerit achieved in one lifetime could well continue to determine one’s capacities,
temperament and c irc umstanc es in another birth. Hindu thought generally
espouses the idea of a more substantial theory of rebirth, meaning that something
like the ‘soul’ carries with it the latent potential (karma) of all that constitutes the
person. However, some Hindu philosophers, suc h as Shankara (eighth c entury CE)
do away with the idea of a permanent self by assert ing t he ident it y of t he individual
self, at man, wit h t he ult imat e realit y, Brahman; henc e what really t ransmigrat es is
somet hing nearer t o an illusory self, whic h has lost sight of it s t rue ident it y, namely
its oneness with Brahman.
The linkage of dharma and karma (action–effec t ) has t he following
c onsequenc es: there are no ‘ac c idents of births’ determining soc ial iniquities;
mobility within one lifetime is exc luded; one has one’s dharma, both as endowment
and as a soc ial role (Creel, 1984, p. 4). One eit her ac c umulates an improve ment in
karma aiming towards a higher, re-birth, or one tries to c ut the Gordian knot and
opt s t o st ep off, onc e and for all, t he wheel of c yc lic al exist enc e (samsara). But t his
is not ac hieved as simply as it is willed. Indeed, t his freedom is placed as the fourth
and the most diffic ult of goals in the sc heme of the fourfold deontologic al ends of
purusharthas, literally, ‘things sought by human beings’.
Purushartha (human ends). Ac c ording to the Hindu view, there are four pursuits in
life whic h are of int rinsic value, namely: art ha, mat erial int erest s; kama, pleasure
and affec t ive fulfilment ; dharma, again, soc ial and individual dut ies; and moksha,
liberation. They may or may not be c ontinuous with eac h other, though one goal
mig h t prove to be of instrumental value for ac hieving another; dharma is often
thought to be of instrumental value in c onnec tion with liberation. Thus an
asc ending sc ale might be admitted, and the fixing of the relative status of eac h
could lead to vigorous debate, as it has in Indian philosophy.
What is signific ant is that the above c onc eption of human ends provides the
c ontext and c riteria for determining the rules, c onduc t and guidelines in respec t of
t he inst it ut es of c lass and life-c yc le st ages. For an individual will want t o st rive
towards ac hieving the best in terms of these ends within the limits of his or her
temperament, c irc umstanc es, status and so on. Sometimes it is a question of
balanc e; at ot her t imes it is a quest ion of whic h int erest s get priorit y.
For example, a brahmin in the semi-retreat stage might consider that he has
disc harged all his family and soc ial obligat ions, so t hat his remaining int erest is t o
edge towards liberation, by becoming a full-time renunc iant. What he should do
and what he should not do in pursuit of this end is left entirely to his own
det erminat ion, for whic h he relies on his medit at ive and c ognit ive insight s. His
partic ular dharma is the c orrelate of his innate c onstitution, of whic h he alone is the
master: thus an inward at t ent ive praxis is t he sourc e of t he princ iples for his et hic.
Here, it may be observed, the gap between intuition and ethics is very nearly
c losed over. This is another salient feature of Indian ethic s.