Common misconception

Karma is not fate or punishment from a judge; it is the lawful ripening of your own past acts.

The question it leaves you holding

If my present is shaped by past acts I cannot remember, am I being punished — or simply reaping?

Schools that center this concept

• Samkhya — The oldest analysis: countless conscious selves (purusha) entangled in one unconscious nature (prakriti).
• Dvaita Vedanta — Madhva's dualism: God, souls, and matter are eternally distinct; liberation is loving nearness, not merger.
• Vishishtadvaita — Ramanuja's qualified non-dualism: souls and world are real, yet form the body of the one God they depend on.

Questions to explore

• If karma conditions everything, what room is left for free choice?
• Is karma a moral law, a natural law, or both?