Karma PaperThe concepts of Varna and karma are each closely related to the Eastern civilization religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Varna and karma go hand in hand in explaining each other, just like karma with the doctrine of reincarnation. The complicated explanation of all these concepts follows. In order to understand the concept of karma, one must first understand the term varna. An appropriate definition would be the rise of the class system adhered to by Hindus. However, an English translation of Varna means color. There are four social classes which break down the class system otherwise known as varna. Starting with the highest class, there are the Brahmins or priests, followed by the ruling Kshatriyas, the Vaisyas (ordinary people) and finally the Shudras (servants). The Brahmins said that if one was a member of any of the first three classes, one should be extremely careful to avoid the Shudras. Now that we have some understanding of varna, the concept of karma can be more easily explained. Karma simply says that the way a person lives their life now determines their destiny. In other words, the consequences of our actions in this life will determine what they will do or become in the next life. Therefore, karma is what made a person who he is in the current life because of the actions he performed in his previous life. Karma is the cause of a person's destiny in the future life and is what caused a person to become who they are today. We will now explain the relationship between varna and karma. Let's imagine the following situation. There are two people living in the Vaisyas commoner class. One of them only does good deeds, has good thoughts and exudes a good feeling of general well-being. The other person commits crimes, has bad thoughts, and exhibits a general feeling of badness or not-goodness. Perhaps the first person will become a member of the Kshatriya class, progressing on the wheel of samsara. The other person will most likely become a Shudra in the next life. So, perhaps in their most recent past lives, the first person was a good person of the Shudra class, and samsara declared that he or she was moving up in class; and the second person was maybe a bad person from Kshatriya class so she refused the class..