No religious law prevents the donation of organs by Hindus. Life after death, through the continuing rebirth process is Hindus’ most powerful conviction . Karma chooses how the soul will go into the next life. However, a minority of Hindus believe that if someone donates a core organ of his/her body, (ex. his/her heart) the recipient will have to give back the favour in the next life of the donor according to the principles of the Karma. This means that the soul of the donor should have another cycle of life. Since Hindus hope to be freed from the rebirth cycle, this is considered a drawback. The majority of Hindus believe that the body is nothing more than a machine after the soul has left it and they can share its parts with others. Every Hindu can decide if he/she wants to make an organ donation, but there are many references in Hindu Holy scripts that support organ donation. “Daan” (or selfless giving) is third in the list of ten Niyamas (or virtuous acts) in the Hindu scriptures and is considered to be very important for the Hindu faith. It accepts and promotes the “Dharma” (righteous living). This could also be seen as promoting the donation of organs. However, to be dharmatic, the donation needs to have beneficial results.
