Budha by Mhiguera on flickr.com under Creative Commons license
The concept of time is self-evident. Time is passes non-stop. We follow it with clocks and calendars. Yet we cannot study it with a microscope or experiment with it. We just cannot say what exactly happens when time passes.
Time is represented through change, such as the circular motion of the moon around Earth. The passage of time is indeed closely connected to the concept of space. One of the most peculiar qualities of time is the fact that it is measured by motion and it also becomes evident through motion. The term motion signifies a continuous change in the configuration of a physical system. If we watch closely, everything around us continuously changes. Thus every individual perceives time through successive events marked by some action or the karma.
In the universe, all motions are circular. We all know, when we walk on the earth, we follow the curvature of earth's surface. That is the reason an object moving on the earth becomes invisible after some time, when it moves some distance. At atomic level, electrons are moving around the nucleus. In the space, stars, galaxies are all moving in a circular motion. Einstein talks of limitless circular space, applying the principles of the theory of relativity. The laws of nature are such that time or the space-time bends due to differences in either gravity or velocity. The passage of time itself is circular. As all living beings are a part of the universe, it is logical to extend this concept of circular motion to the events in the living world. Thus if death comes after birth, in a circular motion of events, the birth must follow death.
If time is perceived through successive events marked by some action or the karma, then extending the law of circular motion, our karma must return back to us. That is the law of karma, postulated in Hindu, Buddha and Jain philosophy, slight differences notwithstanding.
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