Buddhism does not teach that man is by nature evil. In its perspective the evil
in man is not inborn, and its moral precepts do not refer to any external source of
authority. The various moral precepts are not commandments given by the Buddha,
though they were taught by him. The Buddha was a teacher and not a law-giver. The
moral precepts are the ways pointed out to us what was right and what was wrong and the
consequences. It is left to the individual to make necessary effort to translate into action
the precepts he has undertaken voluntarily. Though these precepts are neither rewards nor
punishments in a future world, yet the law of kamma, stressing the interweave of actions
and their consequences, is operating powerfully as a cosmic force that determines the
appropriate sanction for one’s action. Good actions produce good kamma with rewarding
consequences, and vice versa. Everyone has to reap the result of his own sowing. Even
the undetected criminal does not escape the effects of his deeds.