Nishkama Karma (निष्कामकर्म)

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Nishkama karma (Samskrit: निष्कामकर्म) is translated as a ‘duty without desire’, ‘an action with no regard to its fruits’, ‘disinterested action’, and ‘selfless action’. Niṣkāma karma is a deed intended for everyone’s benefit, similar in a sense to altruism. It is karma that follows dharma, the moral imperative path. Bhagavad Gita emphasizes,

BG 2.47

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

Karma (कर्म) refers to 1) any action or deed; 2) the principle of cause and effect; 3) a consequence or “fruit of action” (karmaphala) or “after effect” (uttaraphala), that sooner or later returns upon the doer.

While all physical and mental activities and their consequences over many lives are typically viewed as Karma, a subset namely niṣkāma karma, is where one performs actions without any interest about its consequences. It is investigated as an important Indian psychological construct for both self-actualization (unveiling  hidden potential to achieve worldly happiness) and self-realization (realizing one’s true self through self-transformation). Niṣkāma karma or action that has no ego-involvement and pays no attention to the results is the form of action that is involved in karma yoga.

Adi Shankaracharya states that karma is the action that a person may choose to do, not to do, or do in a different way. Shankara Bhashya on Badarayana Brahma Sutra:

Kartum akartum anyatha va kartum sakyam laukikam vaidikam ca karma.

The term kāma in Sakāma or Niṣkāma Karma

Sakāma karmas are deeds motivated by a fervent desire to achieve worldly goals on the materialistic path. It is the path of pravrtti (expanding social growth) and entails the active involvement of the self with social roles in the family and community. Contrary to it is the path of selfless action, an action without ego-involvement, an activity devoid of goals for personal gratification termed niṣkāma karma. The word ‘kama’ in niṣkāma refers to dismissing the ‘desire’ for an action’s results rather than eliminating the ‘desire’ to propel an action.

Sakāmi persons have a natural propensity to indulge their ego-driven needs, resulting in a range of emotions. Their deeds are motivated by a fervent desire to achieve worldly goals on the materialistic path. This is the path of pravrtti (expanding social growth) and entails the active involvement of the self with social roles in the family and community.

Niṣkāma karma is equated to the Western thought of categorical imperative, known as Kant’s moral law: a duty for duty’s sake. Kant's law, however, differs in that the arguments are intriguing in theory but troublesome in practice because Kant does not offer the applications of the idea.

Volition or Willed Action

The notion of karma as willed action—whether the will is controlled by the accumulated karma or driven by dharma - has wide implications on a person's psyche. Although one’s mental states are resultants of one’s karma, karma itself is produced by apperceptual (having specific own context) acts that are free. Man’s behavior is doubtless controlled and conditioned by all kinds of circumstances that include past karma. However, he is still free to exercise his volition to act differently. This is where the karmic consequences can be overcome from what is ordained and how they can be changed by the same volition or will. Volition in the sense of willed action means action with ego-reference. Volition without ego-involvement is what we called earlier pure volition, available in meditative and pure states of consciousness. Volition is thus the source for causing karma and a resource to overcome karma.

In Yoga, Avidya is described as the root cause of all troubles. Avidya is the mistaking of the ego for the true self, the root cause of kleśas, which is behind karmic actions, i.e., actions that produce karma. It is what biases one’s actions and stands as hurdle in the path of liberation. Volition as a function of ahaṁkāra is that aspect of the mind which has the karmic consequences. Therefore, control of the ego becomes a necessary state for moksha. Bhagavadgita also describes the path of Karma Yoga as a way of molding volition to render actions free of karma.