Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori

SIN AND VIRTUE 145
becometh,” 1 Then, as to action, “whatsoever a man sows
that shall he reap.” The matter is not one of punishment
and reward, but of consequence, and the consequence of
action is but a part of it. If anything is caused, its result
is caused, the result being part of the original action,
which continues, and is transformed into the result.
The jīvātmā experiences happiness for his good acts and
misery for his evil ones. 2
Karma is of three kinds—viz., saṃcita-karma—that
is, the whole vast accumulated mass of the unexhausted
karma of the past, whether good or bad; which has still
to be worked out. This past karma is the cause of the
character of the succeeding births, and, as such, is called
samskāra, or vāsanā. The second form of karma is
prārabdha, or that part of the first which is ripe, and
which is worked out and bears fruit in the present birth.
The third is the new karma, which man is continually
making by his present and future actions, and is called
vartamāna and āgāmi. 3 The embodied soul (jīvātmā),
whilst in the samsara or phenomenal world, is by its
nature ever making present karma and experiencing the
past. Even the Devas themselves are subject to time
and karma. 4 By his karma a jiva may become an Indra. 5
Karma is thus the invisible (adṛ ṣṭ a), the product of
ordained or prohibited actions capable of giving bodies.
1 Chāndogya Upaniṣad, III, xiv. 1.
2 Mahābhārata, Śāinti-Parva, cci. 23, ccxi, 12.
3 Devī-Bhāgavata. VI. x, 9, 12, 13, 14.
4 So it is said:
Nasmastat karmabhyo vidhirapi na yebhyah prabhavati, and
Ye samastajagatśṛ ṣṭ isthitisamhārakeṇgāh.
Tepi kāleṣu līyante kālo hi balavattarah.
5 Devī-Bhāgavata. IX. xxviii, 18-20.