To Live Indebted: Hindu Wisdom on Responsbility / Anantanand Rambachan

What does it mean to live responsibly in a universe sustained by the divine? In this conversation, Anantanand Rambachan explains how Hindu teaching frames life as a gift inseparably tied to moral obligation. Drawing on the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, he describes responsibility not as fear-driven but as rooted in joy, compassion, and reciprocity. “We are born into owing others,” he says, insisting that human flourishing depends on recognizing interdependence with all living beings. To be responsible to God, Rambachan argues, is also to be responsible to one another, to creation, and to the moral law that sustains existence.

Highlights

1. “Everything originates from the divine… the ground of all existence, the ground of all reality.”

2. “Life is, described in our tradition as a great gift. It is a great gift to know that one and to know each other.”

3. “The divine exists equally in everyone. That’s a fundamental Hindu teaching.”

4. “One who receives from others, one who receives from the universe without the responsibility, feeling responsibility of giving back is a thief.”

5. “We are in debt, in debt. In other words, what it means is that we cannot be fully human outside of the community of the universe and other living beings.”

Divine Origin and Moral Order

• All life originates from the divine and is sustained by the divine
• “Everything originates from the divine… the ground of all existence, the ground of all reality.”
• Life is a divine gift accompanied by obligations

Karma and Responsibility

• Hindu tradition affirms a moral law: the law of karma
• Actions aligned with compassion, generosity, and justice bring harmony and joy
• Cruelty and injustice lead to consequences—both personal and social

Interdependence and Indebtedness

• Sanskrit concept of rena: humans are “born into owing others”
• “We are in debt, in debt… we cannot be fully human outside of the community of the universe and other living beings.”
• Interdependent existence demands responsibility

Reciprocity as Human Calling

• To receive without giving back is to be a thief (Bhagavad Gita)
• Responsibility framed not by fear but by gratitude and joy
• Flourishing comes through reciprocity: giving and receiving

Expanding Beyond the Human

• Responsibility extends beyond anthropocentrism
• Care must include all living beings, nature, and the wider community of life
• Responsibility to God is inseparable from responsibility to each other and to creation