Action Oriented Morality in Hinduism

In discussing the Hindu tradition of morality, one automatically confronted with an interesting problematic. Hinduism is a rich tapestry of many traditions: some theistic, others not; some life-affirming, others ascetic. In this paper, I will attempt to survey some of the ethical vectors of Indian tradition as can best be reconstructed from textual and historical evidence, and then show how these themes have come to be understood in the modern era.