Karma yoga is the yoga of action. It’s about purifying your heart by learning to act selflessly in service of others. Through karma yoga we learn kindness and compassion without an expectation of gain. The idea being that learning these lessons helps us to step away from our ego, freeing us to move one step further on the path to enlightenment.

Service can be a powerful means of releasing yourself of your ego, learning to act from pure intentions, and connecting with the bigger picture. Service is at the heart of karma yoga and it is this belief in the power of karma yoga and the importance of giving back that is at the core of our company.

Karma has been recorded in 3 categories: 

Kiyaka (bodily Actions)

Vicika (verbal/words)

Manasika (Mental/Thoughts)

Further classification of Karmas comes under any of upper classified categories are

Satkarma (Good deeds)- working for the prescribed duties in accordance with nature. We all have a spiritual aim in life. To achieve that spiritual aim we have to be free from all boundages of the world like, sense pleasure, emotions like greed, lust etc. Actions that help us to stay on the path of spirituality and to make us free from all bondages & makes us and others feel blissful from heart that is called satkarma.

Dushkarma /Kukarma (Bad deeds): Actions that are to be done only for individual satisfaction and that will increase all negative emotions inside us, not good for the society and for anybody else are called Dushkarma.

Akarma (inaction): Actions that have no effect at all.

Mishrit Karma (Mix deeds): Actions which are a mixture of satkarma & dushkarma.

Vikarma (perverted actions): Actions performed for prescribed duties against the laws of nature.

People with satkarma born in divine world, People with dushkarma, akarma & vikarma born in lower births, people with mishrit karma born as humans.

2 kinds of Bhav included in karmas :

Sakam Karma : Actions performed for the attainment of swarga or to fulfill any wish. Keeping the expectation of the result in mind and working for that consequences. It is attained by birth & death and rebirth called the wheel of samsara.

Nishkam Karma: Selfless Actions. Performing every action without any attachment to its consequences. Such karma leads to chitta shuddhi, purification of mind and preparing the aspirant for the reception of the light of knowledge.

When it comes to karma yoga, it is important that the service comes from a selfless place. It is about giving to those in need, sharing love, and spreading light. Some ways to encourage this mindset are to practice keeping a mental mantra. Something that reminds you the purpose of your service and keeps you grounded outside of the ego. Another useful practice is to get to know the people you are serving. Rather than thinking of service in the abstract, get on the ground and communicate with those you serve.

Doing something that does not mean anything to you with total involvement is what breaks the karmic structure. Karma means action. If action has to become yoga, action should be liberating. If your activity has become a process of binding yourself, it is karma. So the question is not about how much activity you do. How you are performing the activity is what makes the difference. If you are crawling through your work, that is karma. If you are dancing through your work, that is karma yoga.

There are 3 categories of Karmas for fruits:

Sanchita: Accumulated karma, which are yet to bear fruits of previous karmas. These are the accumulated works and actions that you have completed in the past. These cannot be changed but can only wait to come into fruition. This is the vast accumulation of karma that encompasses our countless past lifetimes. This comprises every action that you have ever made in your past and present lives.

Prarabdha: Previous Karmas, which gave rise to the present incarnation. That we are bearing in present. Prarabdha is that portion of the past karma that is responsible for the present. These are the ripe and fructuous actions and reactions. The things that you did in the past make you what you are today. It cannot be avoided or changed, but only exhausted by being experienced.

Agami: Current actions which will fructify in future. The actions performed by Jivanmukta or an enlightened person also termed as Agami Karma. Agami Karma is the Karma we are creating for ourselves right here in the current moment. It is the action that we create and the choices we make right now, as we live this present lifetime.

Difference between Karmas of Ordinary People & Karmas of a Yogi

The ordinary people operate through lower mind & senses, & mind & body are the vehicles of karma. When karmas are performed through indriyas, mind & body they bring about 3 fold effect: good karma, bad karma, mixed karma and hence continue with the cycle of birth and death.

Whereas a yogi does not operate through lower mind; they operate through nirman chitta. They perform samyama on previous births, manipulate the forces of higher planes and create artificial minds with different consciousness simultaneously. Through these artificial minds the yogi operates in different spheres of his all consciousness at same time. He is in full awareness of all chittas simultaneously. This is done by samyama on mahatattwa (ahamkara & asmita). The created mind give him experience of fruits of his previous births or samskaras, These experiences are transferred to natural mind of yogi and that mind becomes free of karmashaya due to enjoyment of its fruits and hence yogi becomes free from samskaras and free from cycle of birth & death.

Yogis act in such a way that his karma cannot be classified as good or bad or inaction. Because the mind of yogi is clarified through sadhna and thus he has no selfish motive underlying his actions he becomes neutral towards consequences and hence he will be free from all upcoming fruits of karmas.

Yogis are able to operate different minds, in different bodies and different places, and they also do karmas. The impressions are wiped out from the natural mind and it becomes progressively free of its karmashaya. He is now free from all sanchita, prarabdha and agami.