Karma of the Gods

By Nicholas Melson

The Hindu belief holds every being responsible for its actions even the gods themselves. This system of cosmic justice manifests into the belief of karma. This powerful force even follows the atman through its various lives on earth, instituting a social structure based on the principle that you cannot escape the ramifications of your deeds, unless you break through the cycle of samsara and transcend to nirvana; in order to do this one must achieve enlightenment though the accumulation of good karma through many lifetimes of proper living and pious worship.

                Ahalya’s Story touches on many subjects that create the moral foundation of the Hindu people. The Sage Gautama is given the task of taking care of Ahalya, and protects her from the likes of Indra.  Lord Brahma is so pleased with the results that he decides to reward Gautama for his good deeds by offering Ahalyas as a wife for the Sage. This directly coinsides with the text book in saying that Hindus have a system of justice based on reward and punishment dependent upon an entities merit or demerit of actions. This paradigm was particularly effective in the cohesion and stability of civilization on the Indian subcontinent because it was essential to control such a large population that was so diverse in its beliefs, dialects, and even languages.

                Later on in the story the god Indra tricks the beautiful Ahalya into having sex with him by morphing into the form of her Husband while he was down at the river performing purification rituals. When the Sage comes home upon finding the two naked together he curses Indra and Ahalys for their crimes. This is key to the Hindu tradition because it conveys that no one, not even a god is exempt from karma.  It solidifies the system of cosmic justice and helps to keep everyone in that society in their place, coupled with the belief in a  proper order of the universe this story also validates the caste system. The text book states that this caste system helps to create social order and the primary source agrees with that assessment.  

                However, Indra and Ahalya are both given forgiveness after receiving their proper punishments, for their karma. Ahalya eventually regains her form in the flesh, and Indra has all the “female organs” covering his body transformed into eyes. This uplifting part of the story shows that redemption is possible for everyone on matter how awful their actions. This gives hope to everyone, even those in lower castes and further strengthens and more importantly preserves the social structure of the Hindu culture.

                The evidence from the primary source is correctly aligned with the information presented in the text book. However it must be stated that the text book is very brief and selective in the material it is allowed to present in so few pages. One lesson that all people from any culture can walk away with is that no one can walk in the darkness so long that they many never return to the light!