What karma means
Karma simply means "action". The law of karma is the principle that every intentional action — of body, speech and mind — leaves an impression and bears fruit (karma-phala), sooner or later, in this life or another. It is not punishment handed down by a judge; it is closer to a law of nature, like seeds growing into the plants they came from. "As you sow, so shall you reap" is its everyday form.
Three kinds of karma
- Sanchita karma — the "accumulated" store of all past actions from all previous lives, not yet bearing fruit.
- Prarabdha karma — the portion of that store that has "begun" to ripen and has shaped this life: the body, family, circumstances and the major events one meets. It is often compared to an arrow already shot — it will run its course.
- Kriyamana (or agami) karma — the new karma being made now, by present choices, which adds to the store for the future.
This is why karma is not fatalism. Prarabdha sets the circumstances; kriyamana — how one acts within them — is free. The traditional image is a card game: you don't choose your hand, but you choose how to play it.
The Gita's answer: act without clinging
If every action binds, should one stop acting? The Bhagavad Gita says no — inaction is impossible and itself a choice. Its answer is nishkama karma, action without attachment to its fruits:
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥ — Gita 2.47
"Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit be your motive, nor be attached to inaction." Action done as duty and offered to God — what the Gita later calls karma yoga — does not add to bondage.
Can karma be changed?
Tradition gives several answers. New good karma can soften or counter old karma; sincere repentance (prayashchitta), seva and devotion are said to burn karmic seeds; and the Gita says that the fire of knowledge reduces all karma to ashes (4.37). In bhakti, the devotee hands even the fruits over to God. What is widely agreed is that blaming "my karma" for everything misses the point: the present choice is always one's own.
Frequently asked questions
What are the three types of karma?
Sanchita (accumulated), prarabdha (ripening, shaping this life) and kriyamana or agami (being created now).
Is karma the same as fate?
No. Prarabdha shapes circumstances, but present actions are free and create new karma.
What is nishkama karma?
Action done without attachment to its results, as taught in Gita 2.47 — the basis of karma yoga.
Can bad karma be removed?
Tradition holds that good actions, repentance, seva, devotion and spiritual knowledge can weaken or burn karmic seeds.
Does karma only apply across lifetimes?
No. Many effects ripen within the same life; the theory of rebirth explains effects that seem to have no cause in this one.