What is Karma made of? 😱
Not all karma is equal.
— Some get erased in seconds.
— Some bind you for lifetimes.
— Some even continue after you’re dead.
Let’s explore the 3 types of Karma.. and what Hinduism really says.
A Thread 🧵
Karma literally means “action” — but in Hinduism, it means more:
👉 Action + Intention + Consequence.
Every thought, word, and deed.. done with ego or attachment, leaves an imprint on your soul.
That’s karma. And it doesn’t disappear when you die.
📌 There are 3 types of Karma mentioned in Hindu texts like:
• Yoga Vasistha
• Brahma Sutras
• Bhagavad Gita
• Patanjali Yoga Sutras
• Vivekachudamani
👉 Each type binds you in a different way.. and must be handled differently.
📌 Sanchita Karma – The Accumulated Load
This is the entire stockpile of karmas from all your past lives. The infinite ledger you've built over countless births.
It includes:
— Good karmas (punya)
— Bad karmas (paap)
— Mixed karmas
— Unmanifest karmas
👉 You don’t suffer all your karmas in one birth.. only a part is selected.
🔹 Swami Sivananda writes:
“Sanchita Karma is like arrows in a quiver. From this, Prarabdha is drawn.. like the arrow already shot.”
👉 It’s your karmic bank balance. And most of us have been accumulating it for lifetimes.
📌 Prarabdha Karma – The Karma That Has Sprouted
This is the activated part of Sanchita Karma that’s ripe to bear fruit now.
It decides:
— Your birth
— Your family
— Body, gender, appearance
— Major joys and major sufferings
— Even the time and manner of death
It has already begun.. and must be burned through by living it out.
👉 Even enlightened beings cannot escape it completely.
🔹 As per the Yoga Vasistha:
“Prarabdha must be exhausted only through experience. No other method can destroy it once it has begun.”
Even Jnana (Self-knowledge) doesn’t erase it.. it only removes your identification with it.
👉 That's why even realized souls still appear to age, fall sick, or die.
Their body plays out its Prarabdha Karma... even if the soul is free.
— Ramana Maharshi still got cancer.
— Shree Krishna still got hit by an arrow.
🔹 Freedom from karma doesn't mean escaping life.. it means transcending attachment to it.
📌 Kriyamana Karma (or Agami Karma) – The Karma You're Creating Now
This is your free will in action.
Every conscious act.. every word, every choice.. adds new karma.
👉 This karma may bear fruit in:
— This life (immediate)
— Future lives (delayed)
— Or even affect your children (transgenerational)
You’re writing your future destiny right now.
🔹 Patanjali Yoga Sutras (2.12) says:
“The reservoir of karmas has its roots in afflictions and is experienced in visible or invisible births.”
So your Kriyamana karma can extend far beyond your current life.
👉 This is why intentions matter even more than actions.
Think of it like this:
🔹 Sanchita = All arrows you've collected in lifetimes
🔹 Prarabdha = The arrow already fired.. must strike
🔹 Kriyaman = Arrows you're crafting right now
Each thought is a seed.
Each act is an arrow.
👉 You’re living the past.. and shaping the future — at once.
📌 Can karma be erased?
Yes.. but only through realization.
👉 Jnana Yoga (Self-knowledge) burns Sanchita Karma
👉 Bhakti Yoga (surrender to God) neutralizes Kriyamana Karma
👉 But Prarabdha Karma must be lived through.. with detachment
No shortcuts. But many paths.
📌 How to stop creating karma?
By acting without ego or desire.
🔹 Shree Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita 3.9:
“Work must be done as a sacrifice to the God.
Otherwise, it binds one to this world.”
👉 This is Karma Yoga... action with detachment.
"Do your duty, but don’t cling to the results."
👉 Here's The Real Secret...
Karma binds only when you think: “I am the doer.”
Once you realize: “I am not the body or the mind.. I am pure Consciousness” — karma loses its grip.
The arrow may hit the body.
But the Self remains untouched.
🔹 Adi Shankaracharya writes in Vivekachudamani:
“For the one who has realized the Self, there is no bondage, even though karma may remain...
Just as the movement of the fan continues for a while after it’s turned off.”
👉 Liberation is not escape. It’s inner freedom.
👉 So if you're suffering, remember:
You're not being punished.
You're experiencing Prarabdha.. karma ready to bear fruit.
But your response to it... the choices you make now, become Kriyamana Karma.
Which type of karma do you think is most active in your life right now?
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