What Is Karma?
Karma is often mistranslated and misunderstood, especially in the West. Karma is not the result of your action. Karma is your volition in action.
Your intentions can be manifested as thoughts, speech or actions, and an authentic intention can be understood as "action without selfish motive", meaning that your actions should be aligned with the flow of the nature, without any selfish motives, without forcing your way and going against nature.
Do what you can that is within your own control, and leave what is beyond your control to nature. Do what is required and possible at that point of time, yet not having expectations to the results.
In the Yoga, it is emphasized the one should do what is needed, and not having any expectations the results of your actions, not expecting recognition, not expecting any reciprocation.
When you do a good deed while hoping that you get something good out of it, you are actually doing "good" out of greed.
Karma is often translated as "action", but more importantly, is the driving force of the action, which is the intention.
For example, to others you may be doing a good deed, but if your intention was founded on selfish or malicious motives, then the Karma is negative instead of positive. And vice versa.
Sometimes, the result is not what we expected, but the intention is always within our control.
According to the Shastra, there are 3 types of Shakti:
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Jnana (Knowledge)
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Iccha (Will)
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Kriya (Action)
The above powers manifest in 3 different forms:
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Knowledge manifests in Thought
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Will manifests in Desire
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Action manifests in Performance
The Shastra explain that Karma is performed in 3 ways:
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Kayaka (Physical)
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Vachika (Speech)
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Manasika (Mental Thoughts)
Karma-Vipaka
Very often, when something bad happens to someone, people may say, "Oh, it's his Karma".
But that is incorrect. What he had done is indeed his Karma, but the "fruit" of his action is called Vipaka.
Thus, Karma-Vipaka can be understood as "Cause & Effect" in most context.
The action is performed by us, and the result can be either:
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Accepted (Bearing the consquences be it good or bad)
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Buffered (the good Vipaka help when the bad Vipaka come into fruition)
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Neutralized (By Practice of Sadhana and attaining Moksha)
It must be understood that Karma-Vipaka is not Fatalistic Determinism. If it is pre-determined, it would be futile to practise in the first place, as everything would need to go according to the script, and we would be like puppets under the control of a puppet-master.
Also, not all Vipaka would come into fruition. Although some heavy Karma-Vipaka are unavoidable, it would be endless if we needed to suffer all the Vipaka for the Karma of countless past lifetimes.
Some ascetics practise torturing themselves in order to hasten the "burning away" of the bad Vipaka, but that is futile as the pain is self-inflicted, and not as Karma-Vipaka.
The Karma-Vipaka of past lifetimes may influence and condition future Jati (birth), but it does not predetermine the entire life.
Niskama-Karma
Nishkama-Karma refers to "desireless action" or “selfless action”. Nishkama-Karma is an altruistic action that is done simply because it is the right thing to do, without expectations of rewards or the result of the outcome.