Karma, Kleshas, and the Seeds of Our Becoming
Exploring Yoga Sutra 2.12 and the Subtle Mechanics of Rebirth and Reaction.
What is karma, really? In Sutra 2.12, Patañjali offers a powerful insight into the architecture of our lived experience:
“Kleśa-mūlaḥ karmāśayo dṛṣṭādṛṣṭa janma vedanīyaḥ”
– The womb of karmas (actions and reactions) has its root in these obstacles, and the karmas bring experiences in the seen [present] or in the unseen [future] births.
Here, we are invited into the profound truth that our suffering, our reactions, and even our very birth arise from the deep conditioning of past impressions. These are stored in the karmāśaya — the subtle reservoir or “womb” of karma.
This womb is seeded by the kleśas — ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and fear of death, which bind us to cycles of suffering and rebirth. These karmic seeds bear fruit in this life or the next, depending on whether they are ripe (dṛṣṭa) or still dormant (adṛṣṭa). Every action we take, consciously or unconsciously, plants a seed. Some sprout instantly. Others wait, silently shaping the terrain of our future.
The Three Types of Karma: A Cosmic Archery
Patañjali, in a metaphor echoed by many teachers, likens our karmas to arrows in an archer’s quiver:
Prārabdha karma – the arrow already released. This karma is being lived now; it’s what gave rise to our current birth. We can’t recall it, we can’t stop it. It must play out.
Āgāmi karma – the arrow we are preparing to shoot. These are the choices we’re making now, the seeds we’re planting with each intention and action.
Saṁcita karma – the arrows still in the quiver. These karmas are waiting - stored potential energy - until conditions are right for their expression.
This metaphor beautifully illustrates how while we cannot change the karma that has already begun bearing fruit, we do have agency over the karma we are creating now and which karmic seeds we choose to water.
Karma’s Companions: The Kleshas
No karma exists in a vacuum. It is always shaped by the filters of our mind - the kleśas. Like colored lenses, they distort our perception and entangle our choices. Until these are dissolved through deep self-awareness, our actions will always come with residue.
Even the desire to be reborn can stem from unfulfilled karmas - like a strong desire needing a body to express itself. And when that karma is done? Another one may take its place. As long as we’re bound to the wheel, there’s always more waiting in line.
Can This Cycle Be Broken?
Yes. Through yoga. Patañjali doesn’t present karma as a punishment but as a neutral law of cause and effect - one we can learn to transcend. Yoga, practiced with sincerity, helps us burn the seeds before they sprout. When the storehouse is emptied, we step out of the cycle of action and reaction. We are no longer tossed by waves - we become the ocean.
A Modern Reflection.
If you’ve ever felt trapped in patterns - of thought, of relationship, of circumstance - consider the karmāśaya. What seeds have been planted? Which are still dormant? And most importantly: what are you planting now?
Even one conscious breath, one act of kindness, one pause before reaction - these are powerful arrows of āgāmi karma aimed toward freedom.
We explore these teachings deeply in our Meditation & Yoga Teacher Training Course.
Whether your aspiration is to teach yoga, to deepen your personal practice, or to have a space where you can study the sutras not just in theory but apply them to your daily life - we invite you to join our next training.
But the first step?
Is to join us for Fall in Love with Life - a transformational course that helps you reclaim authorship of your inner world, and plant new seeds of conscious creation.
