The Sruthi and the Smrithi texts of India have thus classified Karma, on the basis of the consequences it creates in the life of the individual. The word Karma is short and crisp; it is used freely by all and sundry. But, the idea and ideals it conveys are of great significance to mankind. Karma is not simply physical; it is mental, verbal and manual. Each one can read into it as much value and validity as his reason can unravel.
Karma subsumes every activity of man - worldly, scriptural, and spiritual. All the three strands are, in truth, intertwined; the worldly Karma entails merit or demerit; the scriptural Karma is saturated with the experience of generations of good seekers; the spiritual devotes itself to the cleansing of the heart so that the indwelling God may be reflected therein. Karma is a stream that flows ever faster and faster turning the wheel of life and keeping it incessantly active.
Karma means movement, or that which urges the movement. Air moves in space; the moving air results in heat. It is the friction caused by aerial motion that makes the latent heat manifest. Living beings are able to maintain the temperature of the body, so long as air is breathed in and breathed out. The quicker the breath, the warmer the body. Warmth is the characteristic of fire. Fire is the origin of water. The Sun, as one can see, raises clouds. The particles of water get mixed with other elements and then, hardens into 'earth' (ground soil). The earth produces and fosters plants and trees, which feed and foster man and keep him hale and hearty. These plants give the grain that man lives upon and the seminal fluid that produces progency is the gift of the grain. Thus is the Karma of creation effected and continued. This is how the Smrithi summarises the process.
In short, Karma is observable here as movement, as progress, as evolution and as hereditary effect.
It is only natural and reasonable to expect that this vast flow, this constant movement must have something fixed and unmoving as base and support. This is exactly what is posited as Atma or Parabrahma. The very first vibratory movement on that base happened when Parabrahma became Paramesvara and expressed the three thirsts for Jnana (Wisdom), Iccha (Wish) and Kriya (Will). That very movement was known as the primordial Karma, the Karma of Being, transforming itself into Becoming, the Karma of Srshti.
