Karma (from the root kri, 'to act') is the impersonal cosmic mechanism by which every action (karma) produces a phala (fruit) that conditions future experience across the chain of janma (births). The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4.4.5) states: 'You are what your deep, driving desire is; as your desire is, so is your will; as your will is, so is your deed; as your deed is, so is your destiny.' The Bhagavad Gita distinguishes three categories — sanchita (accumulated), prarabdha (currently manifesting), and agami (being generated now) — and offers nishkama karma (desireless action) as the path to liberation from the karmic cycle. Each action deposits a samskara (latent impression) in the chitta (mind-field), creating vasanas (tendencies) that propel the jiva through samsara until jnana or bhakti burns the karmic storehouse.