Karma is a fundamental concept in all Indian religions. Its meaning has shifted through the centuries but has always revolved around the notion of action, especially religious or ritual action. In the early Brahmanical tradition, this meant primarily the act of sacrifice addressed to the gods, but later, particularly in Buddhism this concept was mixed with moral notions and came to refer to acts, good or bad, that resulted in correspondingly positive or negative fruits either in this or in a future life. As such, karma also came to be viewed as a metaphysical principle, a law of karma, that bound beings to the cycle of rebirth.
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