() most commonly refers to a "completed action", technique or practice within a
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
discipline meant to achieve a specific result.
Etymology
is a
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
term, derived from the Sanskrit root , meaning 'to do'. ' means 'action, deed, effort'. The word ''
karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
'' is also derived from the Sanskrit root ' () , meaning 'to do, make, perform, accomplish, cause, effect, prepare, undertake'.
[see:
]
kṛ, कृ
Monier Monier-Williams
Sir Monier Monier-Williams (; né Williams; 12 November 1819 – 11 April 1899) was a British scholar who was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England. He studied, documented and taught Asian languages, especiall ...
Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (2008 revision)
pp 300-301;
* Carl Cappeller (1999), Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Etymological and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Asian Educational Services, ''Karma'' is related to the verbal
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...
root 'to make, form'.
The root () is common in ancient Sanskrit literature, and it is relied upon to explain ideas in
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one ...
, other
Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
,
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
,
Puranas, and the
Epics of Hinduism.
[See Rigveda 9.69.5, 10.159.4, 10.95.2, Svetâsvatara Upanishad 2.7.v.1, Mahabharata 1.5141, etc.]
Practices
The ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras ( aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ...
'' 2.1 defines three types of , namely ''tapas'' (ascetic devotion), ''svadhyaya'' (study of the self or the scriptures), and (devotion or surrender to higher consciousness).
The yogic purifications or ''shatkarmas'' are sometimes called the Shatkriyas ("the six actions").[Shatkarmas - Cleansing Techniques](_blank)
in Yoga Magazine, a publication of Bihar School of Yoga
The Kriya Yoga school
The Kriya Yoga school (Sanskrit: क्रिया योग) is a modern yoga school, described by its practitioners as an ancient yoga system revived in modern times by Lahiri Mahasaya, who claimed to be initiated by a non-physical guru, ...
, established by Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowsh ...
, is centered on pranayama
Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sh ...
techniques.
References
{{Yoga-stub