concept
Sanskrit
Karma
lit. “action, deed”
The principle that your actions return to you — for better or worse.
Origin
A central concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Strictly, karma is the moral weight of action, accumulated across a life (or across many lives) and shaping rebirth. The Western pop version flattens this into a cosmic accounting system that pays out within one lifetime.
Modern usage
Wildly common in casual speech — 'instant karma', 'karma's a beautiful thing' — usually meaning a satisfying comeuppance. Far from the technical religious sense.
In the wild
He cut everyone off in traffic and got pulled over a mile later — pure karma.— common usage
Tags
consequence
morality