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Wellsprings
hindu-cosmosfeatured in 4 works

Karma (Action and Its Fruit)

Every weighted deed bears fruit for the doer — the moral law that turns the wheel of rebirth.

Karma means 'action,' and as a doctrine it is the moral law that every weighted deed bears fruit for the one who does it — if not now, then later, even in a future life. It is not blind fate but a kind of cosmic accounting of cause and effect in the moral realm: our present condition reflects past action, and present action shapes what comes. Karma is the engine that keeps the round of rebirth turning until it is finally exhausted in liberation.

How it traveled

  1. Bhagavad-gītā
    Kuru-Pañcāla region · -150
    explains
  2. Yoga-sūtra
    Kāśī (Varanasi) · 375
    explains
  3. Upadeśasāhasrī
    Kālaḍi (Kaladi) · 710
    explains
  4. Aṣṭāvakra-gītā
    Kāśī (Varanasi) · 1450
    explains

Key passages(20)

Yoga-sūtra · Patañjali

Very high

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

Very high

Aṣṭāvakra-gītā · Aṣṭāvakra

Very high

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

Very high

Gheraṇḍa-saṃhitā · (attributed to Gheraṇḍa)

Very high

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

Very high

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Chāndogya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

High

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

High

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Aṣṭāvakra-gītā · Aṣṭāvakra

High

Yoga-sūtra · Patañjali

High

Gītārtha-saṃgraha · Yāmunācārya (Ālavandār)

High

Mīmāṃsā-sūtra · Jaimini

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

High

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Vaiśeṣika-sūtra · Kaṇāda

High