Karma (Kharma) Versus Karma - LinkedIn

Home » How Do You Spell Karma » Karma (Kharma) Versus Karma - LinkedIn

Maybe your like

Agree & Join LinkedIn

By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.

Sign in to view more content

Create your free account or sign in to continue your search

Sign in

Welcome back

Email or phone Password Show Forgot password? Sign in

or

By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.

New to LinkedIn? Join now

or

New to LinkedIn? Join now

By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is better on the app

Don’t have the app? Get it in the Microsoft Store.

Open the app Skip to main content

Recently my friend was dropping me home. I don’t even remember what we were talking about. But I remember her saying- ‘It’s her good karma that is catching up.’ I thought about this for a while and realised there are 2 meanings of Karma today- the eastern definition and the western definition which also manifests in the dictionaries . In the eastern definition karma means the sum of people’s actions in his/ her current and previous states of existence which decides their state in the future existences. The westernised definition is a lot more immediate and loosely translates to good or bad luck resulting from one’s actions. Now on a cursory glance, these appear to be the same. However on deeper analysis one realises there is significant difference between the two.

In the westernised definition, there is a lot more finiteness to the word karma and this comes the fact most of western literatures and philosophies believes that we live once and we die once so whatever should happen ought to happen in this one life. So the underlying belief is good actions will eventually be rewarded in a finite period of time.

The oriental definition is also similar except for its underlying philosophy that states that one can have multiple lives your karma is an accumulation of your actions in all the lives before you which in turn is the compass for what lies ahead. It translates to you may or may not see the repercussions of your good or bad deeds immediately but continue doing good anyway. A lot therefore is left to faith.

In the modern world where immediate return on investments are sought and valued, the western definition of karma sits better with the people. The eastern philosophy sounds a lot more uncertain and distant because of the infinite nature of the definition. Having said that though, if you retrospect, you would be able to think of many good deeds that got unnoticed. At those junctures you might have had a feeling of being let down and that’s natural. This where the eastern philosophy of karma comes which stands on the foundation of faith. It pushes you to do good anyway .This sounds difficult and which is where faith comes in.

One of the most famous shlokas in Bhagwad Gita which also is instrumental in popularising Karma starts like this

Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana

In the Indian epic Mahabharata, through these lines Krishna urges Arjuna to fight the war irrespective of the consequences because it is his duty to fight the war. This is after Arjuna refuses to fight against his own family and said he did not want to commit a sin by killing them. Arjuna preferred being killed by them instead of killing them. You are entitled to do your duty and action, but never to the results of your actions. This selfless act of detachment from the results of your actions is what ‘Karma’ in the eastern philosophy is.

Most of modern day business runs on the wheels of capitalism where the account books are of paramount importance and business decisions are based on immediate results and therefore sometimes doing the right thing could seem counter productive. But as Oprah Winfrey says, Excellence too is about making those tough choices and doing the right thing. Do it anyway and good karma will catch up!

Like Like Celebrate Support Love Insightful Funny Comment
  • Copy
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • X
Share 10 Comments Preeti Pandhre, graphic Preeti Pandhre 6y
  • Report this comment

Very well written! But just curious to ask do you believe in Karma?

Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions Ramya M., graphic Ramya M. 6y
  • Report this comment

This is awesome 👏🏻👏🏻

Like Reply 2 Reactions 3 Reactions Arnab Dey, graphic Arnab Dey 6y
  • Report this comment

Your Karma of not coming to a specific event in August will haunt you both in the finite and in the infinite worldview 🙄

Like Reply 1 Reaction Indrani R., graphic Indrani R. 6y
  • Report this comment

What an interesting read on Karma! Thanks for this Gaurab.

Like Reply 1 Reaction 2 Reactions See more comments

To view or add a comment, sign in

More articles by Gaurab Mukhopadhyay

  • AI and the Future of Consumerism: A Prosperity Paradox from a layman's perspective Feb 3, 2025

    AI and the Future of Consumerism: A Prosperity Paradox from a layman's perspective

    AI: The Genie That Grants Every Wish—But at What Cost? Once upon a time, businesses wanted more efficiency. AI…

    2 Comments
  • Bring Back the Adda: The Lost Art of Wisdom through Conversation Jan 5, 2025

    Bring Back the Adda: The Lost Art of Wisdom through Conversation

    Growing up in Kolkata, adda was more than just a pastime—it was a way of life. There isn’t a perfect English…

    2 Comments
  • Beyond the Spotlight: Are We Celebrating the Right Heroes? Aug 10, 2024

    Beyond the Spotlight: Are We Celebrating the Right Heroes?

    We live in a world where celebrity culture dictates our choices. Whether it’s the latest skincare cream, a dietary…

    1 Comment
  • Patience - a rare yet critical virtue in the agile business world Sep 25, 2021

    Patience - a rare yet critical virtue in the agile business world

    Imagine you are a mobile phone manufacturing company that has a history of releasing a new phone every year. This year…

    6 Comments
  • Levelling the playing field with Technology. Jul 7, 2019

    Levelling the playing field with Technology.

    On my 31st birthday that just went by, I chanced upon a photo album bringing memories of the years that have gone by…

    8 Comments
  • Balancing the seesaw Dec 7, 2018

    Balancing the seesaw

    I have always been on the heavier side as a kid and even today as an adult. Studying in Don Bosco as a kid, I would…

    2 Comments
  • The 'differentiator' in client delight Nov 2, 2018

    The 'differentiator' in client delight

    There are some memories of your childhood that you deeply cherish. One of them for me was when the festive season…

    8 Comments
  • Stand With Me - not by me Oct 14, 2018

    Stand With Me - not by me

    ‘Our Business is our business none of your business ‘- The first time I heard this, I thought this was very cool. But…

  • Do 'ends always justify the means'? Oct 18, 2017

    Do 'ends always justify the means'?

    Amar had just joined an MNC as a fresher and within weeks of his joining his team was to go through an external audit…

    16 Comments
  • Charity begins at home Oct 25, 2015

    Charity begins at home

    The Bhagwad Gita has had a telling influence on the Indian culture. The Gita, as you might be aware of, has been a part…

    2 Comments
Show more See all articles

Others also viewed

  • Rules of War: Why Ancient Warriors Refused to Cut Trees, Poison Water, or Harm Farmers

    Navya Singh 3mo

  • Revival of five Pillars of Sanatana Dharma via Varnashrama Dharma

    Radhika Gopinatha dasa 2y

  • Sadashiva, Rudra and Shiva

    Radhika Gopinatha dasa 3y

  • Core Competence - Learnings from Shankaracharya- part 10

    Suresh Narasimha 3y

  • The Narrow Way: The Counter-Cultural Path of Following Jesus

    Anthony MacPherson 8mo

  • Basis of Spiritual Philosophies, 3 Worlds and 2 Axis, the Question of Time and Cycle of Birth and Death

    John Paily 2y

  • Taming Anger With Compassion

    Kiem 金 Andre Hsu 5y

  • Zen's origins in Kanchipuram

    Vinod Aravindakshan 1mo

  • Shri Ganesha: The Eternal Symbol of Wisdom

    Prof (DR)Yogesh Chandra Goswami 1y

  • The Illusion of the Self

    Steve Correa 5y
Show more Show less

Explore content categories

  • Career
  • Productivity
  • Finance
  • Soft Skills & Emotional Intelligence
  • Project Management
  • Education
  • Technology
  • Leadership
  • Ecommerce
  • User Experience
  • Recruitment & HR
  • Customer Experience
  • Real Estate
  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Retail & Merchandising
  • Science
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Future Of Work
  • Consulting
  • Writing
  • Economics
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Employee Experience
  • Workplace Trends
  • Fundraising
  • Networking
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Negotiation
  • Communication
  • Engineering
  • Hospitality & Tourism
  • Business Strategy
  • Change Management
  • Organizational Culture
  • Design
  • Innovation
  • Event Planning
  • Training & Development
Show more Show less

Tag » How Do You Spell Karma