means The principle, drawn from Indian religious thought, that your actions carry moral consequences that come back to you — for good or ill, in this life or another.

from From Sanskrit karma, literally "act, deed, work," rooted in the verb kṛ, "to do or make." Central to Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophy, where every deed plants a seed that eventually bears fruit. The word entered English in the 19th century alongside growing Western interest in Eastern religion, and over time slid from its strict doctrinal sense into the everyday notion of cosmic payback.