Glossary · Sanskrit

karma

कर्म

Action; deed.

Tagged: Buddhist Hindu Jain Sikh

Technical Meaning

Action and its fruit: the moral causality by which deeds shape future existence across rebirths. The traditions differ on its mechanism — and Buddhism denies that any self transmigrates while affirming the causality.

More Sanskrit Terms

  • atman — Self.
  • bhakti — Devotion; participation; sharing.
  • brahman — The expansive; the great.
  • dharma — That which is upheld; order; duty.
  • maya — Illusion; measure; magic.
  • moksha — Release; liberation.
  • samsara — Wandering; the flowing-on.

Related Across the Site

  • atman Glossary Term — Self.
  • bhakti Glossary Term — Devotion; participation; sharing.
  • dharma Glossary Term — That which is upheld; order; duty.
  • moksha Glossary Term — Release; liberation.
  • samsara Glossary Term — Wandering; the flowing-on.
  • Ardhamagadhi and the Prakrits Language — The language of the Jain canon and of early Indian scripture and drama, the spoken sister of Sanskrit.
  • Sanskrit Language — The sacred language of Hinduism and a scriptural language of Buddhism and Jainism: Vedic first, then the classical language of Indian theology.
  • St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology Library — An open-access, multi-author theological reference with advanced articles on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.