duskarma

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit दुष्कर्मन् (duṣkarman, “wickedness”), from दुष्- (duṣ-, “bad”) + कर्मन् (karman, “action”).

Noun

duskarma (countable and uncountable, plural duskarmas)

1. (eastern religion) A misdeed, sinful action, vice, or wrong.
   • 1946, Chittenjoor Kunhan Raja (contributor), Dr. C. Kunhan Raja Presentation Volume - A Volume of Indological Studies, page 228:

     ... for an offence against Dharma, (i.e. law or morality) goes far to shed the duṣkarma that results from his offence.

   • 1952, Kumbakonam Viraraghava Rangaswami Aiyangar, Some Aspects of the Hindu View of Life According to Dharmaśāṡtra, page 99:

     Forcing oneself into a varṇa other than that in which he is born, will make the offender guilty of duṣkarma or sin , whose effect will be to intensify the effects of prāktanakarma (past-birth action) to which his present caste itself is traceable.

   • 1968, University of Madras, Centre of Advanced Study in Philosophy, Indian Philosophical Annual - Volume 2, page 191:

     It is a definite consequence of the duṣkarma on the part of the individual.

   • 1998, Pathikonda Viswambara Nath, Tat Tvam Asi, The Universal Massage in the Bhagavadgītā - Volume 1, page 138:

     At any one time we all have the preponderance of one guna over the other two and due to this we do either, (a) satkarma-good acts, or (b) duṣkarma-bad acts.

   • 2000, Muralidharan, Śrī Guru-Gītā, page 157:

     Knowingly or unknowingly people do a lot of duṣkarma (wrong deeds).

   • 2003, Indian Council of Philosophical Research, R. Balasubramanian, Paramparā - Essays in Honour of R. Balasubramanian, page 199:

     The tone of this verse and verses six and seven seem to refer to any karma whatever, whether it is śrauta, smārta or sādhāraṇa kind and even to duṣkarma that all humans do.

See also

• karma