karma
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karma
A spiritual concept from Hinduism and Buddhism according to which every action inevitably has a consequence that affects one's present or a future life. Good deeds lead to good karma, bad deeds to bad karma.
Er glaubt fest daran, dass sein Pech eine Folge von schlechtem Karma ist.
He firmly believes that his bad luck is a result of bad karma.
'Karma' is almost always combined with the adjectives 'gut' (good) or 'schlecht' (bad) to describe the quality of actions and their consequences. People often talk about 'gutes Karma' (good karma) as something you have or collect.
Wenn du anderen hilfst, sammelst du gutes Karma.
If you help others, you collect good karma.
'Karma' is a loanword from Sanskrit, the ancient Indian scholarly language. Knowing its origin in Hinduism and Buddhism helps you understand the original spiritual meaning.
Das Konzept des Karma spielt in vielen östlichen Religionen eine zentrale Rolle.
The concept of karma plays a central role in many Eastern religions.
In everyday language, 'Karma' is often used for immediate, balancing justice. It describes a quick, often ironic consequence of a good or bad deed.
Er hat sich im Bus vorgedrängelt und dann seine Bahn verpasst – das ist Karma!
He pushed ahead in line on the bus and then missed his train—that's karma!
consequence / episode
'die Folge' and 'das Karma' can both express that an action has an effect later on. 'die Folge' is neutral and fits many situations: a mistake, a decision, or an event has a consequence. 'das Karma' has a spiritual background or is used colloquially when you mean that good or bad behavior eventually comes back to you. Learners may confuse the words because both have to do with consequences. In practice: for a normal cause-and-effect relationship, 'die Folge' is more precise. 'Karma' sounds more personal, moral, or joking.
Tom sagt, das sei Karma, weil sein Kollege gestern selbst so unfreundlich war.
Tom says that is karma because his colleague was so unfriendly himself yesterday.
Eine Folge des starken Regens war, dass viele Züge später kamen.
One consequence of the heavy rain was that many trains arrived late.