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In the Upanishads, Rita works itself out in the ethical realm of human society through karma, or action. This idea first appears in the Brahmanas, in which it is stated that every human being comes into the world pre-fashioned by themselves. What does this mean? Whatever you do determines what you become in this life and, by means of samsara, in the next life. In relation to Rita , then, karma means something like "the law of the deed": every act, moral and otherwise, is the result of some previous act which caused it. Everything you do is caused by what you have done in the past and in turn will cause your future actions. (How does this differ from ideas of "destiny" or "fate" you've encountered in other cultures?) In particular, karma determines which of the caturvarnas, or "four colors (castes)" one will be reborn into. Therefore, since all of society is organized according to these castes, the very structure and stratification of society reflected Rita in the here and now.
Richard Hooker
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