Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.12: Karma Ashaya — Understanding Karma and Its Impressions
Have you ever noticed how certain actions seem to leave a lasting impression on us? A decision, an experience or even a repeated response can influence the way we think and act in the future.
Yoga philosophy explores the relationship between our actions, their underlying influences and the experiences that follow through the concept of Karma.
In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the discussion of karma is closely connected to the five Kleshas. Patanjali explains that the afflictions of the mind are not merely temporary disturbances. They also form the underlying basis of the karmic impressions associated with our actions.
In Sutra 2.12, he introduces the concept of Karma Ashaya — the storehouse or accumulated deposit of karma.
This sutra offers a deeper understanding of how our actions and the afflictions behind them are connected within the framework of yoga philosophy.
What Is Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.12?
The original Sanskrit sutra reads:
क्लेशमूलः कर्माशयो दृष्टादृष्टजन्मवेदनीयः॥ २.१२॥
Kleśa-mūlaḥ karmāśayo dṛṣṭādṛṣṭa-janma-vedanīyaḥ.
A commonly used translation is:
The Karma Ashaya, rooted in the Kleshas, is experienced in present or future births.
To understand this sutra, we need to look at three important expressions:
Klesha-mulah: Rooted in the Kleshas or mental afflictions.
Karma Ashaya: The accumulated store or deposit of karma.
Drishta-adrishta-janma-vedaniyah: That which is experienced in seen or unseen births, commonly understood as present and future births.
Patanjali is explaining that karmic accumulation is connected to the Kleshas, and its results may be experienced across different births.
This is a traditional philosophical teaching about karma and rebirth, rather than simply a description of how everyday habits influence behaviour.
What Is Karma Ashaya?
The Sanskrit term Karma Ashaya combines two ideas:
Karma: Action and its consequences.
Ashaya: A resting place, deposit or storehouse.
Together, Karma Ashaya refers to the accumulated karmic deposit associated with our actions.
According to the Yoga Sutras, actions are not understood only through their immediate external results. Their underlying motivations and the afflictions influencing them are also significant.
For example, consider two people who perform the same outward action: helping someone.
One person helps genuinely, without expecting recognition. Another helps primarily to gain appreciation, influence or social approval.
Although the outward action may appear similar, the intention and mental influences behind it are different.
This example helps us reflect on why yoga philosophy looks beyond the visible action. However, it is an illustration of the importance of intention, not a complete explanation of how karmic results are determined.
Karma Ashaya represents the deeper accumulation associated with actions and their consequences within the traditional understanding of karma.
How Are the Kleshas Connected to Karma?
In the previous articles, we explored the five Kleshas described in Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.3:
Avidya: Ignorance or fundamental misunderstanding.
Asmita: Egoism or misidentification.
Raga: Attachment or craving.
Dvesha: Aversion or repulsion.
Abhinivesha: Clinging to life or fear of death.
Patanjali describes these Kleshas as the roots of Karma Ashaya.
Why is this connection important?
Our actions are influenced by how we perceive ourselves and the world. When our perception is influenced by attachment, aversion, egoism or misunderstanding, these afflictions can shape our intentions and actions.
Consider an everyday example.
You receive feedback about something you have done.
You interpret the feedback as a personal criticism and immediately become defensive.
Your response may be influenced by:
Asmita: Identifying strongly with your opinions or achievements.
Raga: Wanting appreciation and approval.
Dvesha: Resisting criticism or an uncomfortable experience.
You react, perhaps saying something hurtful or withdrawing from the conversation.
The immediate reaction is one part of the experience. The deeper point is that the afflictions influencing our actions can contribute to karmic accumulation.
This is why Patanjali places the Kleshas at the root of Karma Ashaya.
Does Karma Mean Every Action Has an Immediate Result?
Not necessarily.
One of the common misunderstandings about karma is that every action produces an immediate and visible consequence.
Yoga philosophy presents a more extensive understanding.
Some actions have consequences that are immediately apparent. Others may have results that are not immediately experienced or understood.
Sutra 2.12 uses the expression Drishta-Adrishta Janma, referring to results experienced in present or future births.
This connects the sutra to the traditional understanding of rebirth in Indian philosophical thought.
It is important not to reduce this teaching to the simplistic idea that every pleasant or unpleasant event in someone's life is a direct reward or punishment for something they have done.
The Yoga Sutras discuss karma within a larger philosophical framework involving ignorance, afflictions, action, experience and liberation.
What Happens to Karma Ashaya? Understanding Sutra 2.13
The next sutra continues this discussion.
Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.13
सति मूले तद्विपाको जात्यायुर्भोगाः॥ २.१३॥
Sati mūle tad-vipāko jāty-āyur-bhogāḥ.
A commonly used translation is:
As long as the root remains, its fruition manifests as birth, lifespan and experience.
This sutra explains the consequences of Karma Ashaya.
Patanjali identifies three aspects of its fruition:
1. Jati — Birth or condition of existence
This refers to the form or circumstances of birth within the traditional doctrine of rebirth.
2. Ayu — Lifespan
This refers to the duration of life.
3. Bhoga — Experience
This refers to the experiences encountered during life, including pleasure and pain.
Together, these concepts explain how the accumulated karmic deposit is understood to influence future experience.
The important point is that the effects of karma are not limited to the immediate consequences of an action.
Can We Change Our Karmic Patterns?
This brings us to an important question.
If actions and their underlying afflictions contribute to Karma Ashaya, what role does yoga practice play?
Patanjali's teachings offer a path towards reducing the influence of the Kleshas.
In Sutra 2.1, he introduces Kriya Yoga through three principles:
Tapas — discipline and sustained effort.
Svadhyaya — self-study and the study of sacred texts.
Ishvara Pranidhana — devotion and surrender to Ishvara.
In Sutras 2.10 and 2.11, he explains how subtle forms of the Kleshas are addressed through their resolution into their source, while their active expressions are worked with through meditation.
These teachings are connected.
As we develop greater awareness of the afflictions influencing our actions, we have an opportunity to work with them rather than repeatedly responding from the same patterns.
Karma Is More Than Good and Bad Actions
In everyday conversation, karma is often reduced to a simple idea:
Do good things and good things will happen. Do bad things and bad things will happen.
While this may be a familiar way of introducing karma, Patanjali's teaching is considerably more nuanced.
The Yoga Sutras explore the relationship between action, intention, mental afflictions and the results of karma.
Karma is not simply a cosmic reward-and-punishment system.
It is part of a philosophical explanation of how conditioned existence and suffering continue.
Understanding this distinction allows us to approach the subject with greater depth rather than treating karma as a quick explanation for everything that happens in life.
Bringing Karma Ashaya Into Perspective
Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.12 reminds us that the Kleshas are not isolated mental experiences. They are described as the roots of the accumulated karmic deposit.
Our understanding of karma therefore requires us to look beyond the external action and examine the deeper influences behind it.
The following sutra, 2.13, takes this understanding further by describing the fruition of karma through birth, lifespan and experience.
Together, these teachings offer an important perspective on the relationship between our actions, the afflictions influencing them and the continuation of conditioned existence.
Yoga encourages us to look beyond what we do and examine the influences from which our actions arise. Through practice, self-study and discernment, we gradually work towards freedom from the afflictions that keep us bound to suffering.
This article is part of Exploring the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali series, examining individual sutras and their relevance to the practice of yoga and everyday life.
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