Karma is undoubtedly one of the most searched topics when it comes to religion, be it any religion, or spirituality. But what is Karma in Hinduism?
In Sanatan dharma, the word Karma comes from the Sanskrit word Kri, meaning “action” or “deed”. Karma in Hinduism is the universal principle of cause and effect, where every action leads to corresponding results not only in this life but also in future lives.
Let’s dive deep into karma to understand it in depth.
What are the different types of Karma in Hinduism?
There are four types of Karma in Hinduism:
Sanchita Karma
Sanchit karma is the karma that you have accumulated in all your past lives. This is like your collection of karma from all your past lives. In technological terms, this is your database of karma with every entry of your every single past life. If you have 100 past lives, Sanchita Karma is the accumulated total karma of all 100 past lives.
Prarabhda Karma
From that Sanchit karma, the portion of past karma that is given to you in this life is known as Prarabhda Karma.
Kriyamana Karma
The Karma that we create with our actions in the present moment, which will bear fruit in this life or the next is the Kriyamana Karma. The Karma accumulated from the actions of the present moment.
Agami Karma
Agami Karma is the future Karma resulting from present actions (Kriyamana Karma), now you may experience Agami Karma in this life, or in your next life as well.
What is Karmic debt?
Karmic debt is a concept that I myself find very fascinating. A person’s actions, whether intentional or unintentional, even the smallest of the smallest accumulate Karma in Hinduism.
Karmic debt refers to unresolved Karma carried from past lives into the future. It means that past actions—whether good or bad—must be repaid in this life or future lives. If someone has done wrongdoings in a previous life, they will face challenges or suffering as a result of their karmic debt. Similarly, if they have done good deeds, they will receive rewards.
How Does Karma Work in Hinduism?
Okay so there are 4 different types of Karma in Hinduism, but how do they work?
Now to understand it even better, Karma in Hinduism is the cycle of Samsara. Samsara refers to the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. It’s the continuous flow of life, where souls are repeatedly born into different forms. Based on one’s Karma, a soul is reborn into a new life in a new body, carrying forward its karmic debt (coming to this later).
Why do corrupt politicians thrive even when all they are doing is corruption and bad deeds?
In this case, the corrupt politician has good Prarabdha Karma from past good deeds, leading to power, wealth, and success in this life. This is like inheriting a fortune—you enjoy it even when you do acts that don’t even qualify you to deserve it anymore. Because even when you don’t deserve it anymore, the Prarabhda is giving you success.
However, since the politician is committing corruption, fraud, or harm, he is creating negative Kriyamana Karma, which will turn into Agami Karma for future suffering. He cannot escape this karma negative Kriyanama Karma in future births. As a result, he might be reborn into a life of poverty or lack of success despite insane hard work in the future lives.
Karma in hinduism works across lifetimes, and eventually, everyone will face the results of their actions, whether good or bad.
How does Prarabhda Karma work?
Let’s understand the Prabhdha Karma in depth. Prarabdha Karma determines certain unchangeable aspects of life such as:
- Your Birth Family: The place you are born, the family, the wealth of the family, and the education and knowledge of the family, is Prarabdha Karma at work. It’s the Prarabhda that is placing you in a particular family.
- Your Wealth: If someone is born in rich family, it’s due to past good karma. If someone struggles financially despite the effort, it’s because of past karma manifesting as obstacles.
- Your Marriage & Life Partner: The person you marry is already determined by your Prarabhda Karma (Referencing soul contract and Jyotisha here). You may think you are choosing your partner, but it’s the Prarabhdha largely at the play. Similarly, a happy harmonious marriage whereas a marriage full of challenges is nothing but a play of Karma as well.
- Unexpected Accidents & Events: A very careful and skilled driver meeting with an accident is a Prarabdha Karma unfolding. Similarly, some people escape dangerous situations unharmed—this, too, is a karmic influence.
Can Prarabdha Karma Be Changed?
Prarabhda is an arrow that has already been shot, which should answer if it can be changed or not. However, how we react to Prarabhda is in our hands also known as free will in modern terms.
A financially struggling person who remains honest, hard-working, practices charity, and follows Dharma creates a good Kriyamana Karma, leading to good Agami Karma. Now in the same life, the person is not likely to be financially stable, however, he might get a bit of relief from his past karma from divine blessings.
How to Reduce Karma?
Reducing Karma to null (clearing Karmic debt and achieving Moksha (Liberation)) in a single life is close to impossible in the majority of cases.
However, to reduce the negative Karma, our Sanatan Dharma does give us several ways:
- Seva (Selfless Service): Performing good deeds following dharma without expecting rewards.
- Bhakti Yoga (Devotion, Surrender): Surrendering, worshipping devatas (gods).
- Jnana Yoga: Jnana yoga, is very hard for me to make it understand here in short words, but to try my best, jnana yoga is gaining eternal wisdom and knowledge leading to transcending Karma.
- Karma Yoga: Performing Karma (duty) without attachment to the results.
Bhagavad Gita teaches us that we can overcome Karma by acting selflessly, engaging in Karma Yoga, and dedicating actions to the Divine. We will be covering this in very depth in our Bhagavad Gita series blog.
What is the symbol of Karma?
Well, there is no exact symbol of Karma in Hinduism, however, a well-known symbol that represents the essence of Karma is the Sudarshana Chakra. We will be covering this in-depth in the coming blog ‘What is Sudarshana Chakra”.
How to see Karma?
Jyotish Shastra (Vedic Astrology) is one of key tool used to analyze karma in Hinduism.
Our birth chart (Janma Kundali) is a karmic map that shows our past karma and its effects on this life.
Hence, you must have understood now that, Karma in Hinduism is more than cause and effect, it is a philosophy that teaches ethical living and personal responsibility towards the world and towards oneself as well. By understanding Karma and actively working to reduce the Karma (both good and bad), one can progress on the spiritual path towards Moksha.
If you found this blog insightful, dive deeper into Hinduism’s timeless wisdom by exploring more articles on our website!
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