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Grammatical Analysis
Kammavipāka: [m.] The ripening of action; the result of karma. Formed by kamma (volitional action, deed) + vipāka (ripening, fruit, result).
Orthodox Definition
In Theravāda Abhidhamma, it is a catastrophic doctrinal error to use the word “karma” to describe the bad things that happen to a person. Kamma strictly refers to the active, volitional cause. Vipāka strictly refers to the passive, experiential result.
When a person performs a volitional act (kamma), it drops a karmic seed into the mind-stream. When external conditions are correct, that seed matures and produces a result (vipāka). A vipāka is always a passive state of consciousness and its associated mental factors.
For example: when a person steals, the intention to steal is kamma. When that person is later reborn in a painful state or experiences physical pain, the painful feeling (vedanā) and the consciousness experiencing that pain is the vipāka. Because vipāka is a passive result, it produces no new karma itself.
Quote
‘‘ko nu kho, bho gotama, hetu ko paccayo yena manussānaṃyeva sataṃ manussabhūtānaṃ dissanti hīnappaṇītatā?
“What, good Gotama, is the reason, what is the cause, that among human beings themselves, born as humans, one observes inferiority and superiority?dissanti hi, bho gotama, manussā appāyukā, dissanti dīghāyukā; dissanti bavhābādhā , dissanti appābādhā; dissanti dubbaṇṇā, dissanti vaṇṇavanto; dissanti appesakkhā, dissanti mahesakkhā; dissanti appabhogā, dissanti mahābhogā; dissanti nīcakulīnā, dissanti uccākulīnā; dissanti duppaññā, dissanti paññavanto .
Indeed, good Gotama, one observes humans who are short-lived, one observes humans who are long-lived; one observes humans who are sickly, one observes humans who are healthy; one observes humans who are ill-favored, one observes humans who are good-looking; one observes humans who have little influence, one observes humans who have great influence; one observes humans who have little wealth, one observes humans who have great wealth; one observes humans who are of low birth, one observes humans who are of high birth; one observes humans who are foolish, one observes humans who are wise.ko nu kho, bho gotama, hetu ko paccayo yena manussānaṃyeva sataṃ manussabhūtānaṃ dissanti hīnappaṇītatā’’ti?
What, good Gotama, is the reason, what is the cause, that among human beings themselves, born as humans, one observes inferiority and superiority?”— Cūḷakammavibhaṅga Sutta (MN 135)
Textual References
- Sutta: Cūḷakammavibhaṅga Sutta (MN 135) – Detailed explanation of how individual differences among human beings are caused by past kamma.
- Sutta: Acintita Sutta (AN 4.77) – The Buddha declares that the precise, microscopic workings of kamma-vipāka are one of the four unconjecturables (acinteyya); trying to calculate it purely through intellect leads to madness.
- Abhidhamma: Dhammasaṅgaṇī – The meticulous isolation of active consciousness (kamma) versus resultant consciousness (vipāka).