What is Karma? Law of Cause and Effect Explained Simply

Introduction: You Reap What You Sow

You have probably heard the phrase “what goes around comes around.” If you do good things, good things will happen to you. If you do bad things, bad things will happen to you. This popular understanding captures a small part of the concept of karma, but the full meaning is much deeper and more profound.

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The word karma comes from the Sanskrit root kri, meaning “to do” or “to act.” In its simplest sense, karma means action. But in Hindu philosophy, karma refers not just to action itself but to the universal law of cause and effect that governs all actions. Every action — physical, verbal, or mental — produces a result. That result may come immediately or after a long time, in this life or a future life. You cannot escape the consequences of your actions. This is the law of karma.

This article explains the law of karma in simple, clear language, covering its basic principles, different types, relationship with reincarnation, and practical implications for daily life.

The Simple Definition: Cause and Effect

Imagine you plant a mango seed in the ground. After some time, a mango tree grows. It will never produce apples or oranges. The seed determines the fruit. This is the law of cause and effect in nature.

The law of karma is exactly the same, applied to the realm of actions and their moral consequences:

• Good actions (good karma) lead to happiness, success, favorable circumstances, and positive experiences.
• Bad actions (bad karma) lead to suffering, failure, unfavorable circumstances, and negative experiences.
• Mixed actions lead to mixed results.

Just as the mango seed produces mangoes and the apple seed produces apples, your actions produce results that match their moral quality. Kindness produces kindness. Cruelty produces cruelty. Generosity produces generosity. Theft produces loss.

This is not a system of punishment and reward imposed by an external God. It is a natural law, like gravity. If you jump off a roof, gravity does not “punish” you. It simply produces a predictable result. Similarly, if you act with greed and cruelty, the law of karma simply produces suffering. If you act with generosity and compassion, it produces happiness.

The Four Types of Karma

Traditional Hindu philosophy describes four types of karma, based on when the results manifest:

1. Sanchita Karma (Accumulated Karma)

Sanchita karma is the vast storehouse of all your accumulated actions from all your past lives. Think of it as a giant warehouse containing every seed you have ever planted. This includes actions from countless lifetimes. It is the total sum of your karmic account.

Most of this karma is not yet “ripe.” It remains in potential form, waiting for the right conditions to produce results.

2. Prarabdha Karma (Fruit That Has Begun to Ripen)

Prarabdha karma is the portion of your sanchita karma that has begun to bear fruit in your current life. It is the karma that has “ripened” and is now producing your present circumstances:

• Your body (its health, appearance, and capabilities)
• Your family and birth circumstances
• Your natural talents and tendencies
• The major events of your life (meeting certain people, facing certain challenges)

Prarabdha karma has already begun to produce results. It cannot be avoided or changed. You must experience it. The only choice is how you respond to it.

3. Agami Karma (Future Karma)

Agami karma is the karma you are creating right now through your present actions. Every time you act, you plant new seeds that will bear fruit in the future — either in this life or in future lives.

This is where you have free will. While you cannot change your prarabdha karma (the past), you can shape your agami karma (the future) through your choices in the present moment.

4. Kriyamana Karma (Instant Karma)

Kriyamana karma is a subset of agami karma that produces results immediately or very quickly, within the same lifetime. This is what people often call “instant karma.” Some actions bear fruit so quickly that you can see the cause and effect directly.

Type	Description	Can You Change It?
Sanchita	All accumulated karma from all past lives	Can be burned through Self-knowledge
Prarabdha	The portion already bearing fruit in this life	Must be experienced; cannot be changed
Agami	Karma you are creating now for the future	Yes, through present choices
Kriyamana	Karma that bears fruit immediately	Yes, through present choices

The Three Gates to Hell (Bad Karma)

The Bhagavad Gita warns that certain actions produce particularly bad karma. In Chapter 16, Verse 21, Krishna identifies three “gates to hell” — three habits that destroy the soul:

Gate	Meaning	Examples
Kama	Lust, excessive desire	Addiction, sexual misconduct, greed
Krodha	Anger	Violence, cruelty, revenge, harsh speech
Lobha	Greed	Theft, exploitation, hoarding, stinginess

A wise person avoids these three gates. They lead to suffering in this life and future lives.

Karma and Reincarnation (Samsara)

The law of karma is intimately connected with reincarnation (samsara). Most actions do not produce their full results within a single lifetime. You may plant a seed of cruelty that takes many lifetimes to fully ripen. You may plant a seed of generosity that bears fruit in a future life.

This is why justice is not always visible in a single lifetime. A kind person may suffer greatly. A cruel person may prosper greatly. This seems unfair — until you remember that karma spans multiple lifetimes. The kind person suffering now may be experiencing the last remnants of a bad seed planted long ago. The cruel person prospering now may be enjoying the last remnants of a good seed planted long ago.

The goal of Hinduism is not to accumulate good karma. The goal is to transcend karma entirely through Self-knowledge (jnana) and liberation (moksha). When you realize that your true Self (Atman) is not the doer, not the body, not the mind, you stop creating new karma. The storehouse of sanchita karma is burned by the fire of knowledge. Only prarabdha karma remains, and it exhausts itself naturally.

As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 4, Verse 37):

“Just as a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all karma.”

Karma vs. Destiny: Do We Have Free Will?

A common question is: If karma determines everything, do we have free will? The answer is both yes and no, depending on which karma we are talking about.

• Prarabdha karma (past actions already ripening): You have no choice. You must experience the results of past actions. You cannot choose your parents, your body, your natural talents, or many of the circumstances of your life.
• Agami karma (future actions you are choosing now): You have complete free will. In this very moment, you can choose to act with kindness or cruelty, generosity or greed, patience or anger. Your present choices shape your future.

The analogy of an archer is helpful. The arrow has already left the bow. You cannot change its trajectory (prarabdha). But you can choose where to aim the next arrow (agami).

How to Create Good Karma (Without Becoming Attached)

The Bhagavad Gita teaches that action is inevitable. You cannot avoid karma by avoiding action. Even sitting still is an action. Even breathing is an action. The question is not whether to act, but how to act.

Here are practical ways to create good karma:

1. Act according to dharma. Dharma is righteous duty. When you act according to your genuine nature and responsibilities, you naturally create good karma.

2. Act without selfish attachment. This is the secret of Karma Yoga. Do your duty fully, with excellence and love. Then let go of the result. Do not act for personal gain. Act because it is the right thing to do.

3. Cultivate the four pillars of dharma: Truthfulness (satya), non-violence (ahimsa), compassion (daya), and purity (saucha).

4. Avoid the three gates to hell: Lust, anger, and greed.

5. Offer the results to the Divine. Whatever you do — eating, working, breathing — offer it to God. Then the karma does not bind you.

What About Bad Karma Already Created?

If you have created bad karma in the past, what can you do? Several traditional remedies include:

• Repentance and resolution: Genuinely regret the action and resolve not to repeat it.
• Penance (prayaschitta): Voluntary acts of discipline or charity to counteract the bad karma.
• Forgiveness: Forgive others who have harmed you. Forgive yourself.
• Good actions: Create good karma to mitigate the effects of bad karma (though this does not cancel it; both must bear fruit separately).
• Self-knowledge: The ultimate remedy. When you realize the Self, all karma is burned.

Common Misunderstandings About Karma

Misunderstanding 1: Karma is fate or destiny.
Correction: Karma is not an external force controlling you. It is the natural result of your own past choices. You are the creator of your own karma.

Misunderstanding 2: Everything that happens is my karma.
Correction: Not everything. Other people’s actions, natural events, and random occurrences also affect your life. Karma explains only the results of your past actions.

Misunderstanding 3: Karma is punishment from God.
Correction: Karma is a natural law, not a system of punishment. God does not “judge” you. Your own actions produce their own results.

Misunderstanding 4: You cannot change your karma.
Correction: You cannot change past karma that is already bearing fruit. But you can change your future karma through present choices.

Misunderstanding 5: Good karma leads to liberation.
Correction: Good karma leads to happiness in heaven or a favorable rebirth. Liberation (moksha) requires transcending all karma — good and bad. Even good karma binds you to the cycle of rebirth.

Karma in the Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is the most important text on karma in Hindu philosophy. Krishna does not tell Arjuna to stop acting. He tells Arjuna to act — to fight — but to act without attachment to the results.

In Chapter 2, Verse 47, Krishna gives the essence of Karma Yoga:

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”

This is the secret of action without bondage. Act fully. Act excellently. Act as an instrument of the Divine. But do not act for personal gain. Let go of the results. Then karma does not bind you.

In Chapter 4, Verse 18, Krishna says:

“One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among humans. Such a person is a yogi who has performed all actions.”

The wise person acts, but knows they are not the doer. The body acts. The mind acts. The senses act. The Self — the true “I” — remains the non-doing witness. This is action without bondage.

Practical Application: Living with Karma

Understanding karma is not an abstract philosophical exercise. It has direct practical implications:

1. Take responsibility for your actions. You cannot blame others, fate, or God for your suffering. Your suffering is the result of your own past choices. This is empowering, not punishing. If you created it, you can change it.

2. Do not judge others. You do not know their karmic history. The person who seems to be suffering may be exhausting a bad seed from a past life. The person who seems to be prospering unjustly may be enjoying the last remnants of a good seed. You cannot see the full picture.

3. Focus on present choices. The past is gone. You cannot change it. The future is not yet here. You cannot control it. The only moment you can act is now. Choose wisely.

4. Do not become attached to results. You control your effort, not the outcome. Do your best. Then let go. Trust the law of karma.

5. Seek Self-knowledge. The ultimate goal is not good karma. The ultimate goal is freedom from all karma — liberation. This comes through knowing your true Self as the eternal, non-doing witness.

Conclusion: You Are the Creator

The law of karma is simple: Every action produces a result. Good actions produce happiness. Bad actions produce suffering. You are not a victim of fate. You are the creator of your own destiny, through your choices in every moment.

But the highest teaching of the Bhagavad Gita goes beyond karma. While karma is a real law at the empirical level, at the absolute level, the Self (Atman) is never the doer. The Self never acts. The Self never reaps the fruits of action. The Self is pure, free, and untouched.

As Krishna says in Chapter 5, Verse 8-9:

“I do nothing at all,” thinks the steady knower of truth, even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing… The realized one knows that the senses are operating on their sense objects, while the Self remains as the non-doing witness.

Know yourself as the witness. Act without attachment. Offer the results to the Divine. Be free. This is the highest teaching on karma.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.