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Karmasaya



(Sanskrit कर्माशय) "receptacle of works" that stores the effects of our previous actions from lifetime to lifetime, thereby recurring as new impulses to action. This receptacle remains until the root causes are eliminated. Karamsaya is derived from karma कर्म "action, works" and āśaya आशय which is generally used as "virtue and vice" yet can be interpreted as "receptacle, disposition, character, accumulation, mind, heart, stomach, womb, abode, resting place, vice, pleasure" etc. In Hinduism, asaya is assumed to indicate samskara (mental formations) and vasana (desire).

"Karmasaya or latent impression of action based on afflictions, becomes active in this life or in a life to come. As long as klesa remains at the root, karmsaya produces three consequences in the form of birth, span of life, and experience." —Patanjali, Yoga Sutras 2:12-13

"The sum total of all samskaras is known as karmasaya (receptacle of works) and this is called sancita karma (accumulated works). When a man leaves the physical body he carries with him his astral body of seventeen tatvas (elements) and the karmasaya, to the mental plane. Karmasaya is burnt in toto by the highest knowledge, obtained through asamprajnata samadhi (the non-dual superconscious state)." —Swami Sivananda