Karma is a concept in Hinduism, through which beneficial effects are derived from past life beneficial actions, and harmful effects from past life harmful actions, thus creating a system of actions and reactions. This goes on throughout a souls reincarnated life, forming a cycle of rebirth.

The origin of the term Karma is found in the Rig Veda. The term also appears significantly in the Atharva Veda. According to the Shatapatha Brahmana, "a man is born to the world he has made" and one is placed in a balance in the other world for an estimate of ones good and evil deeds. It also says that as a man is 'constituted' by his desires, he is born in the other world with reference to these. Scholars and historians believe that the earliest formulation of the Karma doctrine occurs in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, which is the earliest of the Upanishads.

The idea is said to be applicable not only to the material world but also to our thoughts, words, actions and the actions that others do as per our instructions.

The word Karma literally means a deed or an act. They broadly name the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, which Hindus believe govern all consciousness. Karma is not fate, for we act with what can be described as a conditioned free will creating our own destinies. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determine our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction. Not all karmas rebound immediately. Some accumulate and return unexpectedly in this or other lifetimes.