 Nyāya thinkers seek to relate the principle of karma with the atomistic conception of nature described above, but in doing so might appear to compromise their commitment of metaphysical naturalism. Individuals can enjoy or suffer the consequences of their actions only during their embodied existence in the world. Atoms, therefore, combine to form such a world as individuals deserve because of their past deeds. When accumulated merits and demerits become ready for fruition, they can impart motion to atoms. To admit an unseen force as a cause of atomic motion, identified with the accumulated merits and demerits of individual beings, might seem to run against a commitment to naturalism. Yet the idea that there is unbroken chain of causal connection within the empirical world spanning across different lives situates the postulated ‘unseen force’ itself within the boundaries of the natural world. Mohanty (1992, p. 222) observes that ‘if actions of the self and the moral forces (adṛṣṭa) generated by actions account for empirical nature’s manifestation or creation, then ultimately nature is both natural and moral: the two order coincides.’