Karma
कर्म
Karma (Sanskrit: 'action') is a Hindu and Buddhist doctrine positing that intentional actions produce inevitable consequences that determine future circumstances across lifetimes. Central to understanding samsara (rebirth), karma provides a philosophical framework explaining suffering's origins and the possibility of redemption through ethical conduct, meditation, and spiritual practice.
Key facts
- Karma is not punishment/reward from deities but an impersonal law of moral causation: actions produce natural consequences across lifetimes, determining birth circumstances, suffering, and opportunities.
- Buddhist and Hindu karma differ: Buddhism emphasizes intention (cetana) over external action; karma affects mind/consciousness; morality is grounded in intention, not caste duty.
- Three types of karma: Sanchita (accumulated karma from past lives), Prarabdha (fructifying karma active in current life), Agami (newly created karma in present).
- Karma doesn't negate free will; it contextualizes choice: past karma shapes present circumstances (options, temperament, predispositions), but present choices generate new karma, influencing future lives.
- Karma-yoga (mentioned in Bhagavad Gita) teaches that performing duty without attachment to results liberates one from karma's bondage, enabling spiritual advancement.
Details
Karma doctrine emerged in early Hindu and Buddhist thought as a philosophical explanation for inequality and suffering: why are some born privileged while others suffer? Karma-vada (karma doctrine) proposes that present circumstances reflect past-life actions; future lives depend on current choices. Unlike Western determinism, karma-vada emphasizes intentionality: motivations (vasanas, samskaras—mental impressions) matter more than external deeds. Hindu philosophy distinguishes karma types: Sanchita (accumulated, from many lives), Prarabdha (portion activated in current life, determining birth/circumstances), Agami (newly created through present choices). This framework reconciles free will with determinism: past karma shapes current situations, but individuals retain choice in responding, generating new karma. The Bhagavad Gita synthesized karma-yoga (yoga of action): Arjuna can act (his duty as warrior) while renouncing attachment to results; this detached action—Nishkama Karma—purifies karma's bondage. Buddhism's karma doctrine emphasizes intention (cetana) over external action: mental states motivating action—greed, hatred, delusion vs. generosity, compassion, wisdom—determine karma's moral quality. Karmic consequences unfold across samsara (rebirth cycle); liberation (moksha/Nirvana) requires exhausting karma through spiritual practice. Colonial-era critiques portrayed karma-vada as fatalism justifying social oppression; Hindu reformers reinterpreted karma emphasizing personal responsibility and social reform. Modern applications: Karma influences Indian law (criminal jurisprudence considering intent), environmental ethics (ecological consequences), and therapeutic psychology (mindfulness, cognitive therapy recognizing thought-action causation). Debates persist: karma's compatibility with modern physics, determinism, and justice; how trauma and injustice relate to karma-based explanations.