karma (pharmacology and the action of substances): what the term means and how it is translated

karma कर्म is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 4 different ways across 5 sources, which is the reason this page exists: the renderings do not agree, and the difference between them changes what the term is taken to mean.

Identification
Transliteration	karma
Devanagari	कर्म
Also written	karman, action, pharmacological action, kriyā
Category, as gathered	dravyaguna-1
Grouped here under	Pharmacology and the action of substances
Classical citations	4
Citations checked	2026-10-07

How it is translated, and whether the translation holds

Each rendering is given with the source that uses it. The assessment is ours.

1. One among the six causative factors which resides in substance and responsible for pharmacological action 2. efforts done by body senses and mind

WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · code BP0129 'karma'; second entry DG0111 'karma': 'action; mainly pharmacological action arising out of breakdown & resynthesis at the mahabhautika level;' · comparator

Two entries; DG0111's 'breakdown & resynthesis at the mahabhautika level' is a modern interpretive gloss, not a classical statement.

Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda, which is what that licence permits. It is deliberately absent from the downloadable dataset, which is offered under CC BY 4.0 and invites the modification a NoDerivs licence forbids.

action; 'Action or Effect'; 'all functions such as (of the mind in) will, are called action'

Charaka Samhita tr. A. C. Kaviratna, public domain · Su.1 his 48 and 51-52 · public-domain translation

'Action' consistently; 'operations' in Su.26 his 21 for karma pañcavidham.

operations or effects

Charaka Samhita tr. A. C. Kaviratna, public domain · Su.26 his 14 and 15 (Kankayana's and Atreya's statements: 'virtues, operations or effects') · public-domain translation

Shows the translator treating guna/karma/prabhāva loosely as 'virtues, operations or effects'.

action

carakasamhitaonline.com section headings at Su.1.49 and 1.52 · https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Deerghanjiviteeya_Adhyaya · modern online edition

Heading only.

Essentials of Ayurveda (as excerpted on wisdomlib.org/definition/karma) · https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/karma · modern textbook (secondary excerpt)

The source's rendering runs to a full definition and is not reproduced here, because this project has not cleared that source for quotation.

Textbook paraphrase of Ca.Su.1.52; retrieved only via wisdomlib excerpt.

The classical passages

Each citation gives its address so a reader can check it in a printed edition, our account of what the passage establishes, and the result of reading it against its source.

Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 1:Standard 1.52; Kaviratna prints 51 · checked against the source

That which is the cause of both Union and Separation, which inheres to the substance, and which represents that function which is to be, is (called) Action. Action is independent of other action.

tr. A. C. Kaviratna · source

The definition of karma. Sanskrit as retrieved: संयोगे च विभागे च कारणं द्रव्यमाश्रितम्| कर्तव्यस्य क्रिया कर्म कर्म नान्यदपेक्षते||५२|| (https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Deerghanjiviteeya_Adhyaya). Note the definition is physical/categorial (conjunction and disjunction), not 'pharmacological'.

Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 1:Standard 1.49; Kaviratna prints 48 · checked against the source

...are called attributes, while all functions such as (of the mind in) will, are called action.

tr. A. C. Kaviratna · source

Karma distinguished from guna in the padārtha scheme. Sanskrit: ...गुणाः प्रोक्ताः प्रयत्नादि कर्म चेष्टितमुच्यते||४९|| ('prayatnādi karma ceṣṭitam': action is activity beginning with effort). Kaviratna's '(of the mind in)' is a gloss.

Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 26:Standard 26.10; Kaviratna prints 21 · checked against the source

The operations performed with their aid are five, beginning with vomiting, as has been already said.

tr. A. C. Kaviratna · source

In the dravyaguna chapter, karma of substances is glossed as the five procedures (vamanādi). Sanskrit: कर्म पञ्चविधमुक्तं वमनादि||१०|| (https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Atreyabhadrakapyiya_Adhyaya). Shows 'karma' here means therapeutic operations, a different register from 1.52.

Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 1:Standard 1.52-53 boundary; Kaviratna prints 52

Quotation withheld: nobody has yet read this quotation against its printed source, and an unchecked quotation is not published here. The passage is at this address.

Kaviratna's summarising sentence renders karma/kārya as 'Action or Effect'. Standard verse for this sentence not separately verified.

Not to be confused with

guṇa: Ca.Su.1.50-51 (Kaviratna 50): guna is 'inherent, and ... the passive cause'; karma is the activity (1.52).
prabhāva: Specific action unexplained by rasa-guna-vīrya-vipāka; karma is the action itself whatever its explanation.
karma as the five procedures (vamanādi, pañcakarma): Ca.Su.26.10 uses karma for therapeutic operations; a different register from the categorial definition.
karma as bodily/mental effort (prayatnādi ceṣṭita): Ca.Su.1.49 and WHO BP0129 sense 2.
karma as deed/destiny (daiva, pūrvakarma): Ethical/religious sense (e.g., Ca.Vi.3 on daiva); not the dravyaguna term.
vīrya / vipāka: Potency and post-digestive effect are explanatory factors of action, not the action.

Renderings that do not hold

pharmacological action (as the definition). WHO's frame; Ca.Su.1.52 defines karma as the cause of conjunction/disjunction residing in substance - a general categorial definition.
fate / destiny. Popular English 'karma'; irrelevant to dravyaguna.
'breakdown & resynthesis at the mahabhautika level'. WHO DG0111 interpretive gloss with no classical anchor retrieved.

Open questions

Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.

Chakrapani's gloss on 1.52 (kartavyasya kriyā) was not retrieved.
Whether Sushruta Su.40 or Su.41 (dravya-rasa-guṇa-vīrya-vipāka chapters) define karma; not checked.

How to cite this entry

Age Ayurveda Nighantu, karma, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/karma-dravyaguna/, CC BY 4.0. The whole lexicon is downloadable from the index. Machine-readable source: Markdown. Data exported 2026-10-08.

Educational reference only. A term entry explains what a word means and how it has been translated. Nothing here is advice, and nothing here describes how any condition should be treated.