Karma -

(1) any activity performed in the course of material existence.

(2) pious activities leading to material gain in this world or in the heavenly planets after death.

(3) fate; former acts leading to inevitable results.

(See also: Karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Karma-adhikara - eligibility for pious action leading to material gain.

(See also: Karma-adhikara, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Karma-kanda - a division of the Vedas which relates to the performance of ceremonial acts and sacrificial rites directed toward material benefits or liberation.

(See also: Karma-kanda, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Karma-viddha - vaisnava-dharma which is adulterated with karma, activities directed toward material benefits.

(See also: Karma-viddha, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Karma-yoga - the path to God realization through dedication of the fruits of one’s work to God.

(See also: Karma-yoga, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

karma

Material action and its reactions.

(See also: karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Subha-karma - activities producing auspicious results.

(See also: Subha-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Smarta-karma - social and religious rites prescribed by the smrtisastras.

(See also: Smarta-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Sat-karma - pious deeds recommended in the karma-kansa section of the Vedas.

(See also: Sat-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Aprarabdha-karma - the accumulated stock of reactions to activities which are lying in a dormant condition and waiting to bear fruit at some time.

(See also: Aprarabdha-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Avaidha-karma - actions which defy the regulations of sastra.

(See also: Avaidha-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Asubha-karma - activities producing inauspicious results.

(See also: Asubha-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

reincarnation: "Re-entering the flesh." Punarjanma; metempsychosis. The process wherein souls take on a physical body through the birth process.

Reincarnation is one of the fundamental principles of Hindu spiritual insight, shared by the mystical schools of nearly all religions, including Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism (and even by Christianity until it was cast out by the Nicene Council in 787). It is against the backdrop of this principle of the soul's enjoying many lives that other aspects of Hinduism can be understood. It is a repetitive cycle, known as punarjanma, which originates in the subtle plane (Antarloka), the realm in which souls live between births and return to after death. Here they are assisted in readjusting to the "in-between" world and eventually prepared for yet another birth.

The quality and nature of the birth depends on the merit or demerit of their past actions (karma) and on the needs of their unique pattern of development and experience (dharma). The mother, the father and the soul together create a new body for the soul. At the moment of conception, the soul connects with and is irrevocably bound to the embryo. As soon as the egg is fertilized, the process of human life begins. It is during the mid-term of pregnancy that the full humanness of the fetus is achieved and the soul fully inhabits the new body, a stage which is acknowledged when the child begins to move and kick within the mother's womb. (Tirumantiram, 460: "There in the pregnant womb, the soul lay in primordial quiescence [turiya] state. From that state, Maya [or Prakriti] and Her tribe aroused it and conferred consciousness and maya's evolutes eight- desires and the rest. Thus say scriptures holy and true.")

Finally, at birth the soul emerges into earth consciousness, veiled of all memory of past lives and the inner worlds. The cycle of reincarnation ends when karma has been resolved and the Self God (Parasiva) has been realized. This condition of release is called moksha. Then the soul continues to evolve and mature, but without the need to return to physical existence. How many earthly births must one have to attain the unattainable? Many thousands to be sure, hastened by righteous living, tapas, austerities on all levels, penance and good deeds in abundance.

See: reincarnation, evolution of the soul, karma, moksha, nonhuman birth, samsara, soul.

(See also: Reincarnation, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

naimittika-karma

“Occasional ritual duties” enjoined for specific circumstances, such as a death in one’s family during the performance of a sacrifice.

(See also: naimittika-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

nitya-karma

Regular, obligatory ritual duties.

(See also: nitya-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

karma-bhumi

Bharata-varsha, the land where men work in accordance with the Vedic system of sacrifice.

(See also: karma-bhumi, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

karma-kanda

The portions of the Vedas that teach ritual sacrifices for material success in this life and the next.

(See also: karma-kanda, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

karma-yoga

the process of God realization by dedicating the fruits of one’s work to God.

(See also: karma-yoga, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

kamya-karma

Optional Vedic rituals performed for personal gain.

(See also: kamya-karma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

KARMA: Actions operating through the law of cause and effect.

(See also: KARMA, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

KARMA-INDRIYAS: Organs of action - tongue, hands, feet, genital organ and anus.

(See also: KARMA-INDRIYAS, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

KARMA-KANDI: One who observes strictly the duties ordained in the scriptures.

(See also: KARMA-KANDI, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)