Karma in Light of the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad, Bhagavad Gītā, and Pātañjala Yoga Sūtras
A Lesson with Dr. H. V. Nagaraj Rao
Understanding Karma
The theory of karma is sometimes misinterpreted as fatalistic—summed up in the resigned statement, “It is my karma; what can I do?” This view is incorrect. In truth, karma is not a prison but the field upon which life unfolds. It is the arena in which human beings exercise choice, effort, and moral responsibility. The Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad affirms that one should desire to live for a hundred years, engaged in work for the betterment of life and the welfare of others. This is not a call to passivity but to purposeful action.
Karma and the Yogic Path
In the Bhagavad Gītā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa advises that karma be transformed into karma-yoga. While all beings are bound to karma because the guṇas pervade all prakṛti, only human beings can consciously elevate action into a spiritual discipline. Even the mind is an organ of action; thoughts, intentions, and mental tendencies are also karma.
Animals act according to instinct, but humans can act with deliberate motive. If the motive is self-serving, the act remains karma in the ordinary sense; if the motive is service to the Divine, it becomes karma-yoga. The same outward act—feeding someone, teaching, building—may be either karma or karma-yoga depending entirely on the inner intention.
The Attitude of the Karma-Yogin
A true karma-yogin is devoted to the welfare of all beings, actively seeking opportunities to serve. This mindset changes one’s perception of life: the world becomes an interconnected whole, and every being—human or animal—is seen as part of the Divine. Even small acts, a kind word or compassionate gesture, take on spiritual significance. The central transformation is shifting from the question, “What’s in this for me?” to “What can I do to help?”
Four Types of Karma and Their Complexity
There are four broad types of karma: good, bad, mixed, and neither. While good and bad are easy to grasp, most actions are mixed in their consequences. Life’s complexity often means that an act intended for good may cause harm.
Illustrations from traditional teaching make this clear: a tiger about to kill a man is shot to save him, yet the tiger’s cubs are left to starve—was it right or wrong? In a Buddhist story, a starving tigress is about to eat her cubs. The Buddha asks his disciples to bring her food, but this would require killing another animal. To spare both, he sacrifices himself, offering his own body to the tigress. In another example, a man announces the free distribution of clothes; a stampede occurs, and several die. Such tāmasika karma shows that even good intentions must be joined with wisdom.
We may give money to a beggar in the belief we are helping, only to perpetuate a harmful dependency or feed a criminal network. These examples show that ordinary karma—whether good, bad, or mixed—remains bound to consequence.
Karma-Yoga: Action Without Bondage
A real karma-yogin operates on a higher principle. When an action is done with pure devotion, without expectation of reward, and for the good of all, it does not bind the doer. The purity of intention offsets negative consequences. In time, the karma-yogin moves beyond the cycle of birth and death by rising above the web of cause and effect.
From Karma-Yoga to Jñāna-Yoga
The practice of karma-yoga rests on the conviction that being a good person brings good results—seen or unseen. Such a person feels at home in the world, welcomed and valued, because their life is tangibly helpful. This foundation of open-hearted engagement naturally leads to jñāna-yoga. From the position of belonging and service, the yogin begins to discern patterns in life, gaining wisdom and clarity of thought.
The Timeframe of Karma
Karma-yoga requires patience. Some results are immediate—like the reaction to eating spoiled food—while others take years, lifetimes, or may never visibly manifest. The karma-yogin acts for the sake of goodness itself, trusting that the law of karma will yield its fruit in its own time.
Sāttvika, Rājasa, and Tāmasa Karma
Sāttvika karma is rooted in purity and service, rājasa karma in selfishness and ambition, and tāmasa karma in delusion or deliberate harm. The Bhagavad Gītā explains that one should strive to act in the sāttvika mode, transforming every action into a vehicle for upliftment.
Three Temporal Kinds of Karma
There are also three kinds of karma in relation to time: sañcita (past accumulated karma), prārabdha (karma already begun and currently unfolding), and āgāmi (future karma generated by present action). Prārabdha is likened to an arrow already released—it must reach its target and cannot be recalled. Sañcita and āgāmi can be neutralised through samādhi.
Patañjali even hints at a rare possibility: that a yogin might create a second mind-body complex to exhaust prārabdha swiftly—a subtle and esoteric teaching.
The Role of Antaḥkaraṇa
The antaḥkaraṇa—comprising buddhi, manas, and ahaṃkāra—is the subtle instrument of consciousness that carries the impressions (saṃskāras) from birth to birth. It is through this subtle body that karma follows the jīva across lifetimes, shaping each new incarnation until liberation is attained.
