Expert: Aupmanyav - 11/24/2009

Question
namaste

i have read somwhere on this site that you do not believe in 'karma' and iam guessing 'dharma' and reincarnation aswell. so what do you think the rishis meant wen they used those words in the bhagavad gita or vedas ? could it be down to the mistransalations of the Europeans that could not understand those terms and had not eueropean equivalent which led them to make simplistic meaning to 'karma' and 'dharma' .


i have heard other interpreations like how reincarnation is actually about the atoms in our body just taking new forms in the soil or in the air as they pass through the nitrogen or carbon cycles.
But what is your view? What did the Adi shankaracharya say?

Answer
Dear Vinay,

I do believe in 'dharma' (fulfillment of our duties and righteous action). One can be a hindu without believing in God or soul (that is my case), but one cannot be a hindu without believing in his 'dharma'. It is a social, national, and familial responsbility.

My belief is simple, do not do an evil deed, that is a 'dharmic' stipulation. Family, society, or nation, demands it, it is necessary for their survival; and not because some God is going to put me in hell. Conversely, a good deed will benefit my family, my society, or my nation. I should do that, and not because some God will grant me a stay in heaven.

About re-birth, the matter which makes me up and all things in the universe was produced at the time of big-bang. That matter has been taking various forms in all these 14 billion years and would continue to do so till the universe lasts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_universe_theory#Theories_about_the_end_of_un...). So, after death, the matter that constitutes me will go to millions of living and non-living things, and that is where it came from in the beginning. You may call it re-birth. Basically, matter is eternal, and what constitutes me is eternal. With best regards,

Yours sincerely,

Aupmanyav