Karma

Karma (also karman, kamma) has been a foundational concept in Indian religions since the Vedic period (1500 BCE), appearing in various Hindu schools of thought as well as in Buddhism and Jainism. The term shifts in meaning between these traditions (and, indeed, between various streams of Hinduism). As a result, understanding karma requires situating it in specific historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts.

There is no clear origination to the concept of karma. The term comes from the Sanskrit root kr[Page 653](“to do or make”). In the Vedic context (1500–500 BCE), karma refers specifically to sacrificial action, ritual work. An individual performs ritual action, and the consequences are automatic, governed by cosmic laws of cause and effect. It is important to note that the laws governing karma are impersonal. The gods themselves are subservient to the rules governing ritual action and the results of that action. Specific actions generate specific consequences, quite apart from the intention or sincerity of the ritual practitioners. Within the Vedic system, this applies to consequences that influence one's daily life (children, cattle, prosperity, long life, etc.) as well as the attainment of heaven. Thus, karma was understood in terms of the correct (or incorrect) performance of sacrificial rites, thereby generating wanted (or unwanted) results. A key element that laid the groundwork for future understandings of karma was the notion that consequences of actions may be deferred—that is, consequences do not always appear immediately. In the Vedic texts, deferred karmic consequences manifest later in one's lifetime or in a heavenly reward. Only after the Vedic period do we find the notion of multiple lifetimes.

In the Upanishads (ca. 800–400 BCE), karma takes on a broader meaning, inextricably linked to notions of cyclical reincarnation (samsara) and liberation from this cycle (moksha). In Upanishadic thought, karma refers to the consequences of one's actions in general, beyond the ritual sphere. These consequences follow an individual from one lifetime to another, affecting the conditions into which one is born as well as certain events one experiences. For example, the fact that someone is born a man or a woman, in a high jati or a low jati, is a direct result of one's actions in a previous lifetime. The Chandogya Upanisad (ChUp) 5.10.7 states that for

An oft-repeated passage states succinctly that “one becomes good by good action, bad by bad action” (Brihadaranyaka Upanisad, Brh-Up, 3.2.13). The goal for the individual is release from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, which is generated by the karma generated in each lifetime. In this context, karma is understood in terms of virtuous or evil acts that, in turn, generate positive or negative consequences in the next life. Ultimately, one desires moksa, liberation from samsara, which ultimately means release from karmic consequences.

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