"Karma's a bitch!" Every time something goes wrong, my friend Alex uses the phrase to somehow justify the fact that it went wrong. For those that live in the United States and other Western countries, karma is an innocent word without much meaning. However, for Hindus in India, karma is a way of life as well as the caste system. Karma and caste determine who they marry, where they live, the job they can have and almost every other aspect of their lives. Karma and the caste system are very closely intertwined in defining who we are as a person and the amount of freedom in our lives.

Karma was established in the Hindu religion during the time of the Upanisads. The idea for Karma was developed as an explanation for the cycle of samsara and the connection between priests, ritual and gods. They used...