Karmāśaya
Karmāśaya · karma-āśaya, “the store of karma”
Grammar: masculine noun; a compound of karma (action) and āśaya (resting-place, store), from ā-śī, to lie in: “the place where karma lies stored”.
Meaning: the store of the past karma of the jīvas, which waits to bear its fruit; also called karmādṛshṭa, the unseen karma.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives the karmāśaya a place in the account of creation.
Brahmā, telling Nārada the order of creation, says that Parameśvara, who holds māyā under his control, wishing to become manifest through his māyā in many forms, took up as causes of creation kāla (time), which had been merged in him by his own will, the karmāśayas of the jīvas, and their svabhāva (nature). Kāla stirred the equilibrium of the guṇas sattva, rajas and tamas in prakṛti; transformation began, and from the karmāśaya that upholds all beings the mahat-tattva became manifest (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 5).
Śuka tells Parīkshit that the group of bhūtas, the material cause of the world; the karmāśaya of the jīvas, the instrumental cause of creation; kāla; svabhāva; and the jīva, the enjoyer, all live by the grace of Nārāyaṇa, who grants them existence and light. Apart from that sat-cit Brahman they have no existence of their own (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 10).
Maitreya Maharshi tells Vidura that when Bhagavān Vishṇu entered the twenty-three tattvas, he awakened the kriyā-śakti lying dormant in them, and he also awakened the karmāśaya of the jīvas who lay merged in him, so that it would bear fruit; impelled by him, the tattvas brought forth the Virāṭ Purusha (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 6). And when the time arrived that awakens the karmādṛshṭa, the unseen karma of the jīvas, the subtle tattvas came forth from the Paramātmā as a lotus-bud shining like the Sun (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 8).
Related terms: Karma · Kāla · Svabhāva · Prārabdha · Saṃskāra · Mahat-tattva
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapters 5, 10; Skandha 3, Chapters 6, 8