Action: Karma, !:3, and !

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Karma is a Irequently heard word that has entered many
Western languages including English. The word karma comes
Irom the Sanskrit root kri meaning "to do." Karma is action,
plain and simple, whether involuntary or voluntary. The beating
oI the heart, the breathing oI the lungs, eating, walking,
working, playing; all oI these actions are karma. One also hears
oI good karma and bad karma, which simply reIers to actions
that lead to positive results or negative results. In Sanskrit, the
word Ior result is "phala," which means "Iruit." So the Iruit oI
an action can be positive, negative or mixed. PerIorm the action
oI robbing a bank and the Iruit may be jail. PerIorm the action oI opening a school and the result
will be education. Where Hinduism adds an extra dimension to this understanding oI karma is
that the results oI any given karma may not only bear "Iruit" in this liIe, but may also bear Iruit
in a Iuture liIetime. Similarly, actions perIormed in a Iormer liIetime may be bearing results in
this liIetime. Rob a bank in this liIetime, and you may not get caught and punished in this
liIetime, but in some Iuture liIetime you will pay Ior the crime in some Iashion. You may appear
to be an inocent person put into jail in the present liIetime, but in Iact you are simply paying Ior a
crime comminted in a previous liIetime. II a person has an unexpected win-Iall oI good Iortune
in this liIetime it could be the result oI some good karma having been perIormed in a past
liIetime.
Punya and Papa
Actions that bear positive results and elevate a person are called
punya. Actions that lead to a negative Iruit and degrade a person are
called papa. Imagine that every person has a spiritual "ledger"
showing accrued punya credits and papa liabilities. A person who
wins a lottery must have had a lot oI punya accumulated due to many
past positive actions. A person murdered must be experiencing the
accumulated eIIects oI past papa. In Hinduism people will oIten
consciously attempt to buildup their punya assets and decrease their
papa load by perIorming good actions, avoiding negative actions and
even by perIorming atoning actions to wipe out negative papas.
Scripture tells how Iasting or giving charity on special days are particularly good Ior raising
punya levels. Attending temple and receiving prasada or perIorming certain yagnas and other
rituals are said to even erase the eIIects oI negative actions, papas. One's position in liIe, the
Iamily one is born into, one's economic position, one's health and strength, and even what
country one is born into and who one marries are considered to be the result oI punya and papa.
A person is born into a Iamily oI privilege and class as a result oI great punya. A person is born
into a hellish condition oI war and disease as a result oI papa. There are said to be heavenly and
hellish realms "above and below" this earth that beings are born into as a result oI high and low
levels oI punya and papa. The expression "seventh heaven," Ior example, comes Irom a Hindu
idea oI heaven. Above this earth there are many levels oI heaven and similarly, below this earth
there are many levels oI hell. The "seventh heaven" is the highest realm, but a heaven and a hell

Heaven and Hell

The Ledger oI LiIe
are never permanent. One may go to a heaven as a result oI great punya, but once that punya is
exhausted through enjoyment, one will move to lower levels oI existence. Similarly, one may Iall
to a hell as a result oI great papa, but once that papa is "burned oII" through suIIering one will
begin to raise again to higher levels oI existence. Earthly regions are considered middle ground
where there is both happiness and suIIering and because most actions are neither all good or all
bad, the results are mixed. ThereIore, our lives are mixed in terms oI happiness and suIIering.