What is Karma in Hinduism? http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_karma.asp Home Hinduism Other Rel. Self- Devt. Spiritualism Web Res. Reference Utilities Shopping Scriptures Hinduism A to Hinduism FAQ Bhagavadgita Upanishads Symbolism Saivism Vedas History Concepts Yoga Essays Z Featured Article What is Karma in Hinduism? Shopping Links Hinduism A to Z Hinduism FAQ by Jayaram V Hindu Pantheon Search Hinduwebsite Hinduism Concepts The law of karma is a simple and straightforward Upanishads Bhagavadgita concept according to which beings, not just men, are Hinduism Essays rewarded Buddhist Philosophy Practical Buddhism or +1 Recommend this Hindu Symbolism punished Yoga Mental Health according Sacred Scriptures to their Follow Us Vedas Gods & Goddesses own Hinduwebsite Audio actions and Hinduwebsite Books My Horoscope intentions. My Quotes Thus good Indian News Visit Our Book Store US News actions and Listen to our Podcasts Hinduism News intentions World News Hinduwebsite Video reap good Today in History rewards Technology Articles and bad actions and intentions result in suffering and Jain Dharma My Search pain. With some minor variations this concept is Hinduwebsite Forum common to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. In Islam we find some echoes of it in such declarations of Quran as "Whoever does a good deed ► Karma Yoga he shall be repaid ten fold and whoever does evil, he ► Law of Karma shall be repaid with evil." We have every reason to ► Dharma Karma believe that Jesus was aware of the law of karma. He Our Feeds willingly agreed to take over the karma of all his Recent Articles Feed followers and free them from sin as long as they Audio Feed Video Feed acknowledged him as their savior, repented for their Hinduism Essays Feed actions and made a true confession of their actions Our Forum Feed Our Books Store Feed before God. He suffered on the cross because he took over the karma of many people during his lifetime Support this site upon earth and he continues to do so even after his The money generated from the website will departure. In the Bhagavadgita, Lord Krishna makes a help us improve the similar promise. He promises salvation for all those website. Use our shopping center to who willingly offer all their actions to Him, accepting make your online 1 of 15 3/12/2014 12:12 AM What is Karma in Hinduism? http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_karma.asp purchases from today. Him as the real doer, with a sense of detachment, and without desiring the fruit of their actions. The main difference between the eastern and western religions is that in Islam and Christianity you commit sin against the law of God, where as in Hinduism and related religions, you commit sin against yourself by your own actions. The Meaning of Karma In simple terms, the law of karma suggests that a person's mental and physical actions are binding. Through our actions or inactions and our intention behind them we bind ourselves to Prakriti and cycle of births and deaths. Broadly speaking, karma means not only actions, but also the intentions and consequences associated with each action. In ancient times, karma originally meant sacrificial or ritual acts. Karmakanda meant body of rituals and sacrificial ceremonies we were expected to perform as a part of our moral and social responsibility. However as the time went by it came to be associated with all intentions and actions that had consequences and were binding in nature. The Bhagavadgita went a step ahead and included the desire for fruit of one's action also as binding. The law of karma has its echoes in the scientific world also. We find it in Newton's law motion, according to which every actions has an equal and opposite reaction. The law of karma is very much verifiable in real life. We all have seen in our own lives, and in nature too, that we reap what we sow. Our successes and failures are mostly products of our own thoughts and actions. If we think positively and act positively, very likely we will succeed. On the contrary if we think and act negatively, very likely we will bring negativity and suffering upon ourselves. Sometimes inspite of all the good work and sincere intentions, we may reap negative consequences. A student may prepare well for his exam, but may fail. A very evil and wicked person may earn the jackpot or become owner of a successful business venture. The theory of karma has a convincing explanation such situations. The current 2 of 15 3/12/2014 12:12 AM What is Karma in Hinduism? http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_karma.asp events in our lives need not necessarily be determined by our previous actions in this very life, but also by the actions we did in our previous lives. This explains why sometimes there is a disconnect between our actions and consequences, why bad people often seem to enjoy success and prosperity, while good people seem to suffer despite their best actions and intentions. Some Beliefs About Karma Some of the beliefs associated with karma are well known: that it is a self-correcting mechanism, that it binds beings to the cycle of births and deaths, that it is caused by desires and the activities of the senses, that it is responsible for the evolution of beings from one stage to another and that it is possible to reverse the bondage caused by law of karma through various means. It is also believed that just as each person incurs karma through his or her actions, actions performed as groups also give rise to collective karma that would impact their collective future. According to this belief, nations, organizations and associations also incur karma because of the collective actions and decisions of the people who are part of them. If a nation is oppressed by another, people belonging to the nation that is acting as the oppressor incur bad karma and have to repay for the actions of their country through their own lives. Same is the case with groups and nations that follow a policy of religious intolerance or economic exploitation. We should realize that environmental pollution and degradation is a direct result of our indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources and the mass annihilation of millions of innocent animals, whose consequences we suffer in the form of natural disasters, greenhouse effects, new diseases and scarcity of raw materials. According to Hindu scriptures, the law of karma is universal. Even gods are subject to it. Some Puranas declare that the trinity of gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, have attained their current positions of divine 3 of 15 3/12/2014 12:12 AM What is Karma in Hinduism? http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_karma.asp responsibilities because of their meritorious actions in the previous cycles of creation. Lord Krishna himself said to have died because of the unintentional action of a hunter, who stuck an arrow in his toe, mistaking it to be a rabbit, as a consequences of his own act of killing Bali from behind a tree in a deceptive manner in his previous incarnation as Lord Rama. The Types of Karma To explain situations like the one mentioned above, Hinduism recognizes four types of karma operating in our lives simultaneously. They are: Sanchita Karma. It is sum total of the accumulated karma of previous lives. It is the burden of your past, which is in your account and which needs to be exhausted at some stage in your existence. Prarabdha Karma. It is that part of your sanchita karma which is currently activated in your present life and which influences the course of your present life. Depending upon the nature of your actions, you are either exhausting it or creating more karmic burden for yourself. Agami Karma. It is the karma that arises out of your current life activities, whose consequences will be experienced by you in the coming lives. It is usually added to the account of your sanchita karma. Kriyamana Karma. This is the karma whose consequences are experienced right now or in the near future or distant future, but in any case in this very life. If something happens unexpectedly against our intentions and despite our good efforts, Hindus believe it be the Prarabdha or the consequence of actions performed in their previous lives. There is nothing much we can do about it, except seeking divine intervention and exhaust it through our current actions. Such is said to be the power of prarabdha karma that only the serious minded devotees and servants of God are freed from it by His grace. 4 of 15 3/12/2014 12:12 AM What is Karma in Hinduism? http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_karma.asp The traditional view of Hinduism has been that karma is a body of obligatory duties, rites and rituals, we are expected to perform as a part of our social, moral, family and personal responsibilities. Same is the approach of the Mimansa (ritual) schools of Hinduism. Hindu scriptures classify such duties into the following three categories: Nitya karma. These are the daily sacrifices, such as the morning, afternoon and evening prayers and the five kinds of sacrificial offering of food (ahuta, huta, prahuta, bali, brahmayuta, prasita). Technically, whatever duties that we are supposed to perform as human beings, come under this category such as bathing, eating, praying, sleeping and so on. Naimittika karma. These are the duties that are to be performed on specific occasions, such as festivals, solar and lunar eclipses, the various samskaras such as upanayana, marriage, funeral rites and so on.