Karma and the Wheel of Conditioned Existence
Patanjali's analysis of karma: every action rooted in the kleshas plants seeds (samskaras) that must eventually bear fruit as future experience — yoga practice is the systematic interruption of this chain.
Sutras 2.12-2.14 describe the karma cycle: the accumulated root of karmas (karmashaya) is rooted in the kleshas and ripens in visible life (jati — type of birth), length of life (ayus — span), and type of experience (bhoga — pleasure or pain). When the kleshic root is present, karmas ripen; when it is absent, they don't. This is why the dissolution of the kleshas — especially Avidya — is the key to liberation: without the kleshic root, accumulated karma loses its germinating capacity. The same karma that would produce painful results for someone governed by Avidya produces no bondage for the yogi who has severed the kleshic root. Understanding karma in Patanjali's system is therefore understanding it as a psychological phenomenon, not merely a cosmic accounting system.
The root of karma is rooted in the afflictions, and it is experienced in visible and invisible births.
Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor's secular interpretation of karma — as the habitual patterns of action and response that shape future experience, irrespective of metaphysical beliefs about rebirth — provides an accessible modern entry point into Patanjali's karma theory.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali