Types of Karma - Sanchit, Prarabdha & Kriyaman

Sanchit karma is the vast storehouse of all karma accumulated across countless past lifetimes that has not yet borne fruit. It is like a granary holding all the seeds of past actions, both good and bad, waiting for the right time and conditions to ripen. No single lifetime is long enough to exhaust this store, which is why the soul takes repeated births. Spiritual practice and grace are said to gradually burn away this accumulated karma.

Prarabdha karma is the portion of sanchit karma that has 'begun to fructify' and shapes the circumstances of your present life - the family you were born into, your body, and many of the joys and sorrows you meet. It is often compared to an arrow already released from the bow: it must run its course. Wise teachers advise accepting prarabdha with equanimity, neither resisting nor blaming, while using each situation as an opportunity for growth and devotion.

Kriyaman karma (also called agami karma) is the karma we are creating right now through our present choices and actions. This is where free will truly lives - while prarabdha is fixed, the actions of today are entirely in our hands. Some kriyaman karma gives immediate results, while the rest is added to the sanchit store for the future. Because we shape our destiny here, conscious, righteous action in the present is the key to a better tomorrow.

The Bhagavad Gita offers the highest teaching on karma through karma yoga - the path of selfless action. Lord Krishna advises: act with full devotion to your duty, but surrender attachment to the results. When action is offered to the divine without craving for reward, it stops creating new binding karma and becomes a means of liberation. This is nishkama karma - desireless action - which purifies the heart while one continues to live and work in the world.

Karma is not a prison - it can be lightened and ultimately transcended. Sincere selfless service, devotion (bhakti), japa, meditation and the grace of a true guru are traditionally said to soften the weight of past karma. Accepting prarabdha calmly, while choosing good kriyaman actions and offering them to the divine, gradually empties the sanchit store. The goal is not merely good karma but freedom from the cycle altogether, through self-knowledge and surrender.