Within Madhvacharya’s Dvaita Vedānta, karma is central to the structure of saṃsāra yet always subordinate to the sovereignty of Viṣṇu. Actions of body, speech, and mind generate merit (puṇya) and demerit (pāpa), which in turn shape pleasure and pain, higher and lower births, and the entire field of worldly experience. This karmic order, however, is not an autonomous, impersonal mechanism; it functions only under the omniscient governance of Viṣṇu, who alone dispenses the fruits of action (karma-phala). In this sense, karma is an instrument of divine justice rather than an independent cosmic law.

At the same time, the reach of karma is strictly limited to the realm of bondage. However exalted, good karma cannot by itself carry the soul beyond saṃsāra, because all karmic results remain within the domain of conditioned existence. Righteous actions and adherence to dharma, especially when suffused with devotion, do have a preparatory role: they purify the mind, create favorable circumstances, and dispose the soul toward true knowledge and bhakti. Yet the decisive step—liberation from the cycle of birth and death—lies outside the power of karma and rests solely on Viṣṇu’s grace.

From this perspective, the spiritual path in Dvaita Vedānta treats karma as a necessary but secondary aid. Ethical conduct, Vedic duties, and devotionally oriented works are valued not as self-sufficient means to mokṣa, but as disciplines that ready the soul to receive divine favor. Liberation is attained through right understanding of the soul’s dependence on the Lord and through unwavering devotion, with grace ultimately transcending and, where bestowed, overriding the binding force of past deeds. Karma thus explains the patterned unfolding of worldly experience, while the soul’s final release is attributed to the compassionate initiative of the Supreme.