Religious Theme 2.
Buddhism
: Retributive Justice
through Samsara and Karma
The drama ‘Goblin’ also contains the part of the main thoughts in Buddhism, which gives a system to the Shamanistic view of the afterworld. Korean shamanism is a kind of a primitive religion which tends to have no organized scriptures or have unstructured doctrines even if it has them. Korean Shamanism is focused on the problem of life, death, weal, and woe, especially dealing with the death. It has a dualistic foundation where this world for the living and the underworld for the dead are located around the death. The concept of the Grim Reaper was originally the party of Shamanism. Also, it initially does not have the principle of critical judgment after the death and retributive justice. In other words, after a body dies, what the dead used to do in his living years does not affect the soul of the dead. However, Buddhism significantly helped the establishment of the ideological system of Korean Shamanism, which is shown in the drama.
Samsara and Karma
Samsara is a Sanskrit word that means “wandering through, flowing on,” states Stephen J. Laumakis (as cited in Wikipedia, 2008), in the sense of “aimless and directionless wandering.” According to Goa (as cited in Wikipedia, 2014), “the concept of Samsara is closely associated with the belief that the person continues to be born and reborn in various realms and forms.” To be more specific, Samsara in Buddhism, according to Jeff Wilson (as cited in Wikipedia, 2010), is the “suffering-laden cycle of life, death, and rebirth without beginning or end.” In other words, Samsara is similar to the eternal cycle of birth. Samsara is deeply connected with Karma, the fundamental concept of Buddhism, which explains how actions in the lives affect Samsara. Wilhelm Halbfass (as cited in Wikipedia) explains that karma is
(1) The executed action as a consequence of that activity
(2) The intention of the actor behind an executed action or a planned action
A good action creates good karma, as does good intent. A bad action creates bad karma, as does bad intent. (Halbfass, 2000)
In the Oxford Handbook of contemporary Buddhism, Ingersoll (1975) describes that “karmically beneficial action would lead to [wordly] rewards and ensure a favorable birth. These actions included leading an ethical life.” Here is more explanation about karma in the handbook.
Contemporary Buddhist stories often emphasize the workings of karma in the lives of Buddhists (…) While many of these stories, including the popular past life stories of the Buddha(jataka), were of Indian origin, there were also examples of texts written by Thai authors. Two of the most well known were the Traibhumikatha (the Three Worlds) and the various vernacular renderings of the story of Phra Malai, (…) Both the Traibhumikata and the stories of Phra Malai emphasize normative Theravada ideas about karma and cosmology. The Traibhumikatha provides a detailed account of the three worlds of existence (hell realm, human realm, and the deva realm) and the karmic actions that led to each particular rebirth. The continuum from the lowest hell to the highest heavens reflects a hierarchy of suffering, corporeality, and longevity. (Reynolds 1982)
The Afterlife in the drama
In ‘Goblin,’ Samsara, though it is slightly different from the original though, is the most basic factor in the plot. In the drama, Samsara is not the eternal cycle of birth and death. After four lives, human returns to nothing, which can be referred to as the Buddhist concept, emptiness (Śūnyatā). Each character in the drama has their own Samsara cycle, and the connection in their previous life still affects their current life and relationship, which also can be referred to as the Buddhist concept, cause, motivation or occasion (Nidāna). The concept of Samsara resolved the trouble among relationship of characters; according to this rule of Samsara and Karma, if the character led a life of virtue in the previous life, they will go to heaven after three times of reincarnation (4 lives). Eventually, the next life after the current life leads to the happy ending of characters in the series.
1. Kim Shin (Dokkaebi) and Ji Eun-Tak (Dokkaebi’s bride):
Kim Shin, who was the general of Goryeo Era, is reborn as a goblin by the supreme god after the death as human by his king. It results from his Karma; Since he protects his country’s people and his lord from the enemy, Kim Shin gains much prestige from people, but at the same time, he kills the incalculable number of people. Therefore, this is both the “award” and the “punishment” given by the god. Following is the voice of the supreme god when he makes Kim Shin a goblin.
“The souls of your people are saving you. However, the blood of thousands (people) is on your sword – The blood of your enemies, who were also descendants of deities. You shall be immortal and watch your loved ones die. You will not forget a single death. This is the award I give you and the punishment you shall receive. Only the goblin’s bride shall remove the sword. Once the sword is removed, you shall return to ash and be at peace.”
- Episode 1
“The boy I left Goryeo with is buried here with his grandson and his grandson. I once considered my endless life a reward. In the end, it’s a punishment. I couldn’t forget anyone’s death.”
– Kim Shin, Episode 2
Ji Eun-Tak is originally condemned to die inside the mother when her mother is hit by the car, but Kim Shin saves her mother who wishes eagerly. Therefore, she lives her life as the omitted person from the death list, a missing soul who should have died but not for a particular reason. At 29 years old – numbers finishing with nine are considered as imperfect – she dies after saving children’s lives even though knowing that she will die. Therefore, she is reborn with the memories of her previous life preserved and meets Kim Shin again.
Grim Reaper: It happens when the divinities get finicky. Humans call it ‘a
miracle.’ We call it ‘a missing soul.’”
Subordinate of the Grim Reaper: Is your case a miracle, too?
Grim Reaper: It’s weirder. She[Ji Eun-tak]’s not on the List of Life and Death
or the List of Names. I don’t know which rules to apply.”
- Episode 2
2. Wang Yeo 王黎 (Grim Reaper) and Kim Sun 金善 (Kim Shin's sister in the previous life)
Wang Yeo, who was the king of Goryeo dynasty, becomes the Grim Reaper because of his karma in his previous life. He killed himself by drinking herbal decoction even if he knew that there was a poison for assassination since regrets tormented him that he killed his lover Kim Sun blinded by jealousy and fear toward her elder brother and great general Kim Shin. Suicide is the greatest sin according to the drama. In the life described as the current one in the drama, Kim Sun and Wang Yeo fall in love again, but in the end, Kim Sun leaves him after she figures how their previous life was. Here are lines of officers of the underworld and the Grim Reaper, who is weeping after he figures it out that he was Wang Yeo in his previous life.
“You have received 600 years of torment for the sins committed during your life, among which is the greatest sin, taking your own life.”
“I was Wang Yeo. I killed all of those people. I killed myself.” – Wang Yeo
(…)
Wang Yeo: I gave you the sword. I killed you. I killed everyone. I... I
remember. I was Wang Yeo.
Kim Shin: That’s right. I told you it was you. You killed them all. You killed
and killed and even killed yourself. You couldn’t protect your woman, your loyal subjects, your Goryeo, or even yourself. You couldn’t protect a single thing. Sun, my young sister, protected you with her life. You should’ve lived. You should’ve stayed alive and died by my sword. You should have proven with your death that I was a traitor, as you claimed.
- Episode 13
In the next life, both of them are reborn as human after she dies as the last deceased of Wang Yeo since his punishment as an execution of the Grim Reaper ends. In their next life, they fall in love with each other and end happily ever after.
3. Retributive Justice
The characters on the evil side are punished at the end including Eun-Tak’s aunt who mistreats her, a villainous retainer (Park Joon-Hun) who played the king of Goryeo (Wang Yeo) against Kim Shin and being an evil spirit, afflicts the main characters, and the criminal who is unreflected after a hit-and-run. Here are lines of the Grim Reaper who told the criminal why he does not give the criminal the tea to remove the memory from this life.
Grim Reaper: Oblivion is part of the blessing.
Hit-and-runner: Why did you give her a drink and not me?
Grim Reaper: You have to remember all the bad deeds you did. It’s not the first
time you ran someone over. At first, you’ll regret not being able to drink this tea. Then, you’ll wonder why you weren’t given any. Then you’ll realize that you can’t turn back time and that you’re already in the pits of doom. Your body will feel like it’s being torn to pieces. For each second of pain, you’ll regret what you did, but the pain will not stop. Forever.
Hit-and-runner: I’m sorry. Forgive me.
Grim Reaper: I doubt I can do that. My boss is temperamental.
- Episode 2