Karma as Constraint Accumulation: How Past Actions Shape Present Geometry

Series: Gita Psychology | Part: 5 of 10

In popular usage, karma has become cosmic justice: do good, receive good; do bad, receive bad. A moral accounting system where the universe tallies your deeds and issues proportional rewards or punishments.

That's not what the Bhagavad Gita describes.

In the Gita, karma is not metaphysical bookkeeping. It's geometric consequence. Every action deforms the manifold you move through. Past actions create the constraint structure within which present action unfolds. You are free to act—but you act within the geometry shaped by what you've already done.

Karma is the accumulated trace of your past, encoded as constraint on your present.

The Physics of Constraint Accumulation

Think of it this way: every action you take changes the landscape you move through. You make a promise—that creates an obligation (constraint). You develop a skill—that creates a capacity (possibility). You harm someone—that creates a relational structure (constraint and possibility). You habituate a pattern—that creates a groove (attractor).

These effects don't disappear. They persist. They shape the geometry of available futures. Your present moment is the intersection of all past actions still influencing the manifold.

In AToM terms, karma is the constraint manifold itself. The shape of possibility-and-impossibility you currently inhabit is the integral of your past trajectory. You carved this geometry through action. Now you navigate what you carved.

This is not mystical. It's mechanical. Consider:

Financial karma: You spend more than you earn for years. That accumulates as debt (constraint). Your present financial decisions are constrained by the debt-geometry you created. You can't "just decide" to be debt-free. You have to navigate the consequences of past spending.

Relational karma: You betray a friend's trust. That action deforms the relational manifold. The trust-architecture is damaged. Future interactions carry that damage as constraint. You can't "just decide" to restore trust. You have to repair what you broke—or accept the deformed geometry.

Bodily karma: You don't exercise for a decade. That manifests as atrophy, reduced capacity, metabolic changes. Your present physical possibilities are constrained by past neglect. You can't "just decide" to be fit. You have to work within—and gradually reshape—the constraints you accumulated.

Professional karma: You build expertise in a field. That creates capacity (possibility) and specialization (constraint). You're now someone who can do certain things, which creates opportunities. But you're also someone who didn't develop other capacities, which creates limitations. Your present career geometry reflects accumulated choices.

In each case, karma isn't punishment—it's accumulated consequence. The geometry you move through now is the residue of movement you've already done.

Why Karma Persists: The Geometry Has Memory

The reason karma matters is that state-space has memory. Every action leaves a trace. In physical systems, we call this hysteresis—the dependence of a system's state on its history. In human systems, we call it karma.

Three mechanisms create karmic persistence:

1. Structural deformation. Actions change actual structures—relationships, institutions, environments, bodies. These changes don't reset. A forest you burn doesn't spontaneously regrow. A relationship you damage stays damaged until repaired. The structure remembers.

2. Attractor formation. Repeated actions carve basins. Do something once, it's a choice. Do it a thousand times, it's an attractor. The manifold develops a groove. Future trajectories fall into the groove automatically. You're not choosing anymore—you're following the geometry you carved.

3. Constraint propagation. Actions create commitments, debts, expectations, obligations. These propagate forward as constraints on future action. You sign a contract—that constrains you. You make a promise—that constrains you. You have a child—that constrains you. The constraint doesn't disappear until you fulfill or violate it.

Together, these mechanisms mean: You can't escape what you've done. You can only work with it or through it.

This is why the Gita emphasizes karma yoga (right action) so strongly. Every action creates future constraints. If you act unconsciously, you accumulate constraints randomly. If you act skillfully, you sculpt constraints that support rather than sabotage future coherence.

Good Karma, Bad Karma: Coherence vs. Fragmentation

So what distinguishes "good" karma from "bad" karma?

Not moral virtue. Coherence consequences.

Good karma creates constraints that support future integration. You develop capacity, build trust, honor commitments, cultivate skill. These accumulate as supportive structure. The future geometry has more pathways, more stability, more resources.

Bad karma creates constraints that undermine future integration. You accumulate debt, damage relationships, neglect capacity, violate integrity. These accumulate as hostile structure. The future geometry has fewer pathways, more traps, more tension.

The Gita makes this explicit: actions done from sattva (clarity, coherence) produce supportive karma. Actions done from rajas (agitation, grasping) produce unstable karma. Actions done from tamas (ignorance, collapse) produce destructive karma. (We'll explore the gunas next.)

But here's the key: even "good" karma constrains you. Develop expertise? You're now constrained by that specialization. Build a family? You're constrained by those relationships. Create wealth? You're constrained by its management and distribution.

All action creates constraint. The question is: Do the constraints support or sabotage your capacity to act coherently in the future?

Arjuna's Karmic Bind

Let's apply this to Arjuna's situation. He's trapped by accumulated karma:

His warrior training (capacity karma) means he's equipped to fight but not to do much else. His skill-set constrains his options.

His family relationships (relational karma) mean he loves the people he's facing. He can't just view them as enemies. The bonds constrain his capacity for detachment.

His royal position (social karma) means he's responsible for justice, kingdom, and dependents. He can't just walk away. The role constrains his freedom.

The war itself (collective karma) is the result of decades of accumulated betrayals, injustices, and failures to resolve conflict. He's standing in the consequences of histories he didn't personally create but inherits through lineage.

He didn't cause all this. But he's situated within it. The geometry he navigates is the product of accumulated actions—his own and others'. Karma isn't personal blame—it's inherited constraint architecture.

And here's where Krishna's teaching becomes crucial: You can't undo karma. You can only act within it skillfully.

Arjuna can't make the war not-happen. Can't make his relationships un-complex. Can't make his obligations disappear. The karma is real. The constraints exist. The only question is: How do you act coherently given the constraints?

Freedom Within Constraint

This is the paradox the Gita navigates: You are free to choose your action. But your choices unfold within geometry shaped by past action. So are you free or determined?

Both.

You're determined in the sense that you inherit constraints. The manifold you move through has a particular shape. Some paths are possible, some aren't. You didn't choose the initial conditions.

You're free in the sense that you navigate within those constraints. How you move through the geometry is yours. You can act skillfully or unskillfully. You can create supportive or destructive future constraints. You're authoring the future geometry even as you're constrained by the past.

The Gita's image for this is the chariot: Arjuna is the warrior in the chariot. The horses (senses, desires) pull in various directions. The reins (discipline, discernment) allow control. The chariot (body, situation) has particular affordances and limitations. The road (karma, context) has a particular shape. Krishna (wisdom, higher perspective) guides.

You didn't choose the horses, the chariot, or the road. But how you drive is yours.

In AToM terms: You're navigating a constraint manifold you partially inherited and partially sculpted. Your trajectory has curvature determined by both the geometry and your vector. You can't change the manifold instantly—but every action carves it further.

This means: Present action is constrained by past action. Future action will be constrained by present action. Therefore: Act in ways that sculpt supportive future constraints.

That's karma yoga. Not avoiding consequences—skillfully shaping them.

Karmic Repair: Reshaping the Manifold

Can karma be undone? The Gita says: not exactly. What's done is done. But the geometry can be reshaped.

Through action: You accumulated debt? Pay it down. You damaged trust? Repair it. You neglected capacity? Develop it. The constraint can be softened or shifted through sustained effort.

Through reframing: You can't change what happened, but you can change your relationship to it. Karma binds when you're identified with outcomes. When you shift identification (jnana yoga), the same karma has less grip. The constraints remain, but you move through them differently.

Through grace: The Gita introduces bhakti (devotion) as a path where the burden of karma can be carried by something larger. Not erased—held. When your individual capacity is exhausted, coupling to a stable source (divine, teacher, practice) provides coherence you can't generate alone.

But the core teaching remains: Karma is real. Consequences persist. You work with them, not around them.

This is sobering. It means: Your past matters. You can't just "let go" of what you've done. The geometry remembers. But it's also liberating: You're not doomed. Every moment is an opportunity to sculpt better future constraints. The question is always: What action now creates the geometry you want to move through later?

Modern Karmic Traps

Contemporary life creates particular karmic tangles:

Credit-based consumption: Accumulating future obligations for present satisfaction. The constraint compounds with interest.

Attention fragmentation: Training your nervous system to be constantly interrupted. The attentional capacity atrophies, creating a constraint on future focus.

Commitment proliferation: Saying yes to everything. Each yes is a constraint. The manifold becomes over-constrained, coherence collapses.

Identity investment in outcomes: Tying your self-worth to things beyond your control. Every failure becomes an identity wound, accumulating trauma-karma.

Systemic complicity: Participating in systems that cause harm (climate, inequality, exploitation). The collective karma accumulates even if individual action feels small.

The Gita's framework offers guidance: Every action shapes future geometry. Choose actions that create supportive constraints. Release attachment to outcomes while remaining committed to right action. And recognize that you're always navigating inherited constraint—your own and the collective's.

You didn't create the world's karma. But you move through it. And your movements add to it.

Further Reading

• Bhagavad Gita 4.16-23, 5.7-12 (karma mechanics)
• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book 2 (karma and samskara)
• Buddhaghosa, Visuddhimagga (Buddhist karma analysis)
• Daniel Wegner, The Illusion of Conscious Will (neuroscience of action and causation)
• Roy Baumeister, Willpower (ego depletion and constraint accumulation)

This is Part 5 of the Gita Psychology series, exploring the Bhagavad Gita as a coherence manual for action under constraint.

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