कर्मन्

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

কৰ্মন্ (Assamese script)
ᬓᬃᬫᬦ᭄ (Balinese script)
কর্মন্ (Bengali script)
𑰎𑰨𑰿𑰦𑰡𑰿 (Bhaiksuki script)
𑀓𑀭𑁆𑀫𑀦𑁆 (Brahmi script)
ကရ်္မန် (Burmese script)
કર્મન્ (Gujarati script)
ਕਰ੍ਮਨ੍ (Gurmukhi script)
𑌕𑌰𑍍𑌮𑌨𑍍 (Grantha script)
ꦏꦂꦩꦤ꧀ (Javanese script)
𑂍𑂩𑂹𑂧𑂢𑂹 (Kaithi script)
ಕರ್ಮೝ (Kannada script)
កម៌ន៑ (Khmer script)
ກຣ຺ມນ຺ (Lao script)
കര്മന് (Malayalam script)
ᡬᠠᡵᠮᠠᠨ (Manchu script)
𑘎𑘨𑘿𑘦𑘡𑘿 (Modi script)
ᢉᠠᠷᠮᠠᠨ (Mongolian script)
𑦮𑧈𑧠𑧆𑧁𑧠 (Nandinagari script)
𑐎𑐬𑑂𑐩𑐣𑑂 (Newa script)
କର୍ମନ୍ (Odia script)
ꢒꢬ꣄ꢪꢥ꣄ (Saurashtra script)
𑆑𑆫𑇀𑆩𑆤𑇀 (Sharada script)
𑖎𑖨𑖿𑖦𑖡𑖿 (Siddham script)
කර්‍මන් (Sinhalese script)
𑩜𑩼 𑪙𑩴𑩯 𑪙 (Soyombo script)
𑚊𑚤𑚶𑚢𑚝𑚶 (Takri script)
கர்மந் (Tamil script)
కర్మౝ (Telugu script)
กรฺมนฺ (Thai script)
ཀ་རྨ་ན྄ (Tibetan script)
𑒏𑒩𑓂𑒧𑒢𑓂 (Tirhuta script)
𑨋𑨫𑩇𑨢𑨝𑨴 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷer-

Sanskrit कृ (kṛ)

Sanskrit -मन् (-man)

Sanskrit कर्मन् (karman)

From कृ (kṛ, “to do”) +‎ -मन् (-man), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer-.

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /kɐ́ɾ.mɐn/
(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /kɐɾ.mɐn̪/

Noun

कर्मन् • (kárman) stem, n

an act, action, performance, business; work, labour, activity
- c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.22.19:
  विष्णोः॒ कर्मा॑णि पश्यत॒ यतो॑ व्र॒तानि॑ पस्प॒शे ।
  इन्द्र॑स्य॒ युज्यः॒ सखा॑ ॥
  víṣṇoḥ kármāṇi paśyata yáto vratā́ni paspaśé.
  índrasya yújyaḥ sákhā.
  Look ye on Viṣṇu's works, through which the Friend of Indra, close-allied,
  Hath let his holy ways be seen.
- c. 400 BCE, Bhagavad Gītā Chapter II.47:
  कर्मण्य् एवाधिकारस् ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
  मा कर्मफलहेतुर् भूर् मा ते सङ्गो ऽस्त्व् अकर्मणि ॥
  karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana.
  mā karmaphalahetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ʼstv akarmaṇi.
  [And the Lord said:] "You only have a right over your actions, and the results of those actions are not in your control. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction".
office, special duty, occupation, obligation (usually at the end of a compound, the first member of the compound being either the person who performs the action or the person or thing for or towards whom the action is performed or a specification of the action)
- c. 700 BCE, Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
- c. 200 BCE – 200 CE, Manusmṛti
any religious act, ritual, or rite
- c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.11.4:
  पु॒रां भि॒न्दुर्युवा॑ क॒विरमि॑तौजा अजायत ।
  इन्द्रो॒ विश्व॑स्य॒ कर्म॑णो ध॒र्ता व॒ज्री पु॑रुष्टु॒तः ॥
  purā́ṃ bhindúryúvā kavírámitaujā ajāyata.
  índro víśvasya kármaṇo dhartā́ vajrī́ puruṣṭutáḥ.
  Destroyer of forts, the young, the wise, of unmeasurable strength, was he born
  Upholder of each sacred rite, Indra, the Thunderer, much-extolled.
physicking, medical attendance (Car.)
action consisting in motion, as the third among the seven categories of the Nyaya philosophy; of these motions there are five, namely उत्क्षेपण (ut-kṣepaṇa), अवक्षेपण (ava-kṣepaṇa), आकुञ्चन (ā-kuñcana), प्रसारण (prasāraṇa), and गमन (gamana) (Bhāshāp., Tarkas.)
calculation (Sūryas.)
product, result, effect (Mn. xii, 98 Suśr.)
organ of sense or action (ŚBr. xiv)
कर्मेन्द्रिय (karme-ndriya) — an organ of sense
(grammar) the object that it stands either in the accusative (in active construction), or in the nominative (in passive construction), or in the genitive (in connection with a noun of action); opposed to कर्तृ (kartṛ́), the subject. (Pāṇ. 1-4, 49 ff.)
former act as leading to inevitable results, fate (as the certain consequence of acts in a previous life); karma (Pañcat., Hit., Buddh.)
कर्मपाक (karma-pāka) — "ripening of acts", matured result of previous acts or actions done in a former birth

कर्मविपाक (karma-vipāka) — "the ripening of actions" i.e. the good or evil consequences in this life of human acts performed in previous births
the tenth lunar mansion (VarBṛS. etc.)

Declension

Neuter an-stem declension of कर्मन्
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	कर्म (kárma)	कर्मणी (kármaṇī)	कर्माणि (kármāṇi) कर्म¹ (kárma¹) कर्मा¹ (kármā¹)
vocative	कर्मन् (kárman) कर्म (kárma)	कर्मणी (kármaṇī)	कर्माणि (kármāṇi) कर्म¹ (kárma¹) कर्मा¹ (kármā¹)
accusative	कर्म (kárma)	कर्मणी (kármaṇī)	कर्माणि (kármāṇi) कर्म¹ (kárma¹) कर्मा¹ (kármā¹)
instrumental	कर्मणा (kármaṇā)	कर्मभ्याम् (kármabhyām)	कर्मभिः (kármabhiḥ)
dative	कर्मणे (kármaṇe)	कर्मभ्याम् (kármabhyām)	कर्मभ्यः (kármabhyaḥ)
ablative	कर्मणः (kármaṇaḥ)	कर्मभ्याम् (kármabhyām)	कर्मभ्यः (kármabhyaḥ)
genitive	कर्मणः (kármaṇaḥ)	कर्मणोः (kármaṇoḥ)	कर्मणाम् (kármaṇām)
locative	कर्मणि (kármaṇi) कर्मन्¹ (kárman¹)	कर्मणोः (kármaṇoḥ)	कर्मसु (kármasu)

¹Vedic

Derived terms

Descendants

Dardic:
- Kalasha: krom
- Kashmiri: کٲم (kạ̄m)
Prakrit: 𑀓𑀫𑁆𑀫 (kamma) (see there for further descendants)
Pali: kamma
- → Burmese: ကံ (kam)
- → Khmer: កម្ម (kam)
- → Lao: ກຳ (kam)
- → Thai: กรรม (gam)
→ Bengali: কর্ম (kormo)
→ Middle Chinese: 羯磨 (MC kjot ma|maH)
- → Japanese: 羯磨 (katsuma)
- → Korean: 갈마 (galma)
→ Dutch: karma (perhaps via English)
→ English: karma
→ Esperanto: karmo
→ Finnish: karma
→ Georgian: კარმა (ḳarma)
→ German: Karma
→ Gujarati: કર્મ (karma)
→ Hindi: कर्म (karm)
→ Icelandic: karma
→ Italian: karma
→ Japanese: カルマ (karuma)
→ Kannada: ಕರ್ಮ (karma)
→ Old Khmer: karmma
- → Thai: กรรม (gam)
→ Malayalam: കർമ്മം (kaṟmmaṁ)
→ Marathi: कर्म (karma)
→ Old Marathi: 𑘎𑘨𑘿𑘦 (karma)
→ Odia: କର୍ମ (karma)
→ Polish: karma
→ Portuguese: carma
→ Punjabi: ਕਰਮ (karam)/→ Punjabi: کَرَم (karam)
→ Russian: ка́рма (kárma)
→ Serbo-Croatian: ка̏рма / kȁrma
→ Spanish: karma
→ Tamil: கருமம் (karumam), கர்மா (karmā)
→ Telugu: కర్మ (karma), కర్మము (karmamu)
→ Tocharian B: kārm
→ Turkish: karma

References

Monier Williams (1899) “कर्मन्”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 258, column 2.
Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[1] (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 318