Within the Vishishtadvaita tradition, karma is affirmed as a real and foundational principle that governs the moral fabric of existence. Actions of body, speech, and mind are understood to generate corresponding results—pleasure, pain, and the various conditions into which a soul is born. This law of cause and effect is not seen as a recent innovation but as beginningless, shaping the journey of the individual self through the cycle of birth and death. Karma thus provides a coherent explanation for the diversity of experiences among beings and for the continuity of the soul’s journey across lifetimes.

At the same time, karma in Vishishtadvaita is never viewed as an impersonal or purely mechanical force. It operates under the just and compassionate governance of Nārāyaṇa (Viṣṇu), who oversees the dispensation of karmic results. God is regarded as the ultimate moral governor, ensuring that the fruits of karma are allotted in a way that upholds cosmic order and supports the soul’s spiritual progress. In this way, the karmic law and divine grace are not in tension but are integrated within a theistic framework.

Vishishtadvaita also articulates a nuanced understanding of different kinds of karma. Accumulated karma from past lives (sañcita) forms a vast storehouse, a portion of which becomes prārabdha karma, the specific set of karmic consequences being experienced in the present life. Alongside these, new actions performed in the present generate further karma, which continues the cycle of bondage. Both favorable and unfavorable karmas bind the soul to saṁsāra, even when they lead to apparently auspicious circumstances.

Liberation, therefore, is described as release from this karmic bondage. True knowledge, devotion, and complete surrender to God are held to be the means by which the soul transcends the binding force of karma. At the attainment of mokṣa, future karma is no longer generated, and the karmic forces that sustained rebirth cease to operate for that liberated soul. Karma thus functions as both the explanation of bondage and the backdrop against which the transformative power of devotion and divine grace is fully appreciated.