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.
Textual References
- 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).