The spiderweb of pride.
自業自得 (자업자득) means One reaps oneself the karma one has sown oneself — the result of one's own actions.. arachnid means An arachnid; an arthropod of the class Arachnida.. East Asian idiom and Western myth mirror the same human truth.
The Meeting
Arachne, the weaver of Lydia, boasted that she wove better than the goddess Athena herself; she won the contest, but for the offense of insulting a god she was turned into a spider. In East Asia they taught jaeopjadeuk (自業自得) — one reaps oneself the karma one has sown oneself. One is a tale in which prideful talent became a curse; the other, a law that every deed returns to its doer.
Western Myth — The Weaver Who Challenged a Goddess: Arachne
Arachne was a gifted weaver of Lydia. Her skill at the loom was so great that people asked whether she had learned it from the goddess Athena, but Arachne replied that the goddess should learn from her. Athena, disguised as an old woman, counseled her to set aside her pride, but Arachne refused. The contest began. Athena wove the majesty of the Olympian gods; Arachne wove the sordid love affairs of Zeus. Arachne's work was flawless and perfect, but its content mocked the gods. The enraged Athena tore the loom apart, and Arachne hanged herself; Athena then transformed her into a spider (arachne), to spin thread forever. From this came Arachnida, the term for the class of spiders.
The etymology of 'arachnid' shows the ruin that comes when talent turns to pride. Arachne was not punished for lacking skill. On the contrary, because her skill was supreme she grew proud, and pride summoned ruin. The relationship between ability and humility is captured in a single myth.
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Oxford English Dictionaryarachnid, n. from Greek arakhne spider, from the myth of Arachne.
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Online Etymology Dictionaryetymonline.com/word/arachnid — Modern Latin Arachnida, from Greek arakhne.
Eastern Lore — The Web One Weaves Oneself: Jaeopjadeuk
Jaeopjadeuk (自業自得) comes from the central Buddhist doctrines of cause and effect (因果) and karma (業). It means that one receives (得) the karma (業) one has made oneself — that good karma returns as blessing and evil karma as calamity. In the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra appears the expression jajakjasu (自作自受) — one makes oneself and receives oneself — carrying the same meaning. This concept spread from Buddhism into Confucianism and Daoism and took deep root in the moral outlook of all East Asia. The Korean proverb 'you reap as you sow' and the Chinese 'plant melons and you reap melons' (種瓜得瓜) all rest on the same principle. What jaeopjadeuk teaches is not punishment but the inevitability of cause and effect.
The heart of jaeopjadeuk is not punishment but law. Athena's punishment of Arachne was a chastisement born of a god's wrath, but in jaeopjadeuk no one punishes — the deed itself produces the result. The West explained the same causality through divine judgment; the East, through the law of the cosmos.
Where the Mirrors Meet — Where the Two Myths Converge
Both speak the causal truth that one's own actions return to oneself.
Both live on in everyday language. 'Arachnid' is used in English as the scientific name for spiders, while jaeopjadeuk is used in Korean to mean 'it is one's own doing.'
Yet their interpretation of the cause differs. The West explains causality through divine punishment; the East, through the law of karma.
Arachne is a case of talent turned to pride, while jaeopjadeuk is a universal law applying to every deed. One is particular, the other universal.
Mnemonic — One Line to Take Home
- ✓ arachnid = derived from Arachne. An arachnid; an arthropod of the class Arachnida.
- ✓ 自業自得 = one reaps oneself the karma one has sown oneself. The result of one's own actions.
- ✓ Remember it all at once: 'arachnid' and jaeopjadeuk — two different civilizations telling the same story.
"Myths never die. They still breathe today, alive within 'arachnid' and jaeopjadeuk."
