Karmic balance

Our scriptures describe that every person carries a karmic account. Just as in double-entry bookkeeping, we accrue demerit, or debit, entries due to bad karm, while virtuous karm accrues merit, or a credit, entry. The karmic balance sheet never offsets a debit by credit, unlike the standard bank account. In the case of the karmic balance sheet, the accumulated result of all actions is called sanchit karm, which, in the case of individuals, may span past lives.

Karm is like a seed. Most of the time, karm does not fructify immediately after the seed is sown. There are numerous karmic seeds sown by our actions every moment. These produce a positive or negative result, sooner or later, according to the seed's nature.

The Bhagwad Gita, 4-17, says, 'Mysterious is the path of action (karm).' In his book, 'The Diamond Cutter and Karmic Management', Michael Roach calls karm an imprint that we make on the world with our thoughts and actions. He explains that these imprints start small but grow into mighty consequences.


Nature is impartial. But how to ensure that an action does not create karm, so that the karmic balance sheet has zero balance on both sides? The Gita explains that if you detach yourself from your actions' results, when you do not consider yourself as a doer and treat yourself as the instrument of the supreme Divine, which is acting through you, you are untouched by the karm that is created.