Bhagavad Gita 18.13पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे।सांख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् ॥
pañchaitāni mahā-bāho kāraṇāni nibodha me
sānkhye kṛitānte proktāni siddhaye sarva-karmaṇām
Sanskrit recitation
What makes an action · 18.13–18.28 · Teaching
Translation
Learn from Me, O mighty-armed Arjuna, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya system, for the accomplishment of all actions.
Hindi translation
हे महाबाहो ! कर्मोंका अन्त करनेवाले सांख्यसिद्धान्तमें सम्पूर्ण कर्मोंकी सिद्धिके लिये ये पाँच कारण बताये गये हैं, इनको तू मेरेसे समझ।
Meaning
The Self has no connection whatevr with activity. Nature does everything. The Self is the silent witness. He remains indifferent. The whole superstructure of human activity is the result of the five welldefined causes which are enumerated in the following verse.Etani These Which are going to be mentioned.Sankhya Vedanta Knowledge of the Self as taught in the Vedanta (the Upanishads) puts an end to all actions. This is the reason why the term Kritante (the end of actions) is used here. When the knowledge of the Self arises, all actions terminate. This is taught in chapter II, verse 46 To the Brahman who has known the Self al the Vedas are of so much use as is a reservoir of water in a place where there is a flood everywhere. Again, in verse 33 of chapter IV, it is said All actions in their entirety, O Arjuna, culminate in knowledge. Vedanta, therefore, which imparts knowledge of the Self, is the end of action. A liberated sage who has attained the knowledge of the Self in accordance with the instructions laid down in the Vedanta becomes a Kritakritya (one who has done everything and has nothing more to do).
After Swami Sivananda
What makes an action· 18.13–18.28→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
18.13Learn from Me, O mighty-armed Arjuna, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya…
- 18.14The body, the doer, the various senses, the different functions of various kinds, and the…
- 18.15Whatever action a person performs with their body, speech, and mind, whether right or…
- 18.16Now, such being the case, verily he who, owing to an untrained understanding, looks upon…
- 18.17He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose intelligence is not tainted by good or…
- 18.18Knowledge, the knowable, and the knower form the threefold impulse for action; the organ,…
- 18.19Knowledge, action, and actor are declared in the science of the Gunas (Sankhya philosophy)…
- 18.20That by which one sees the indestructible Reality in all beings, not separate in any of…
- 18.21But that knowledge which sees in all beings various entities of distinct kinds as being…
- 18.22But that which clings to one single effect as if it were the whole, without reason,…
- 18.23An action that is ordained, free from attachment, done without love or hatred, and without…
- 18.24But that action which is done by one longing for the fulfillment of desires or gain with…
- 18.25That action which is undertaken from delusion, without regard for the consequences, loss,…
- 18.26An agent who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with firmness and enthusiasm,…
- 18.27Passionate, desiring to obtain the reward of their actions, greedy, cruel, impure, moved…
- 18.28Unsteady, vulgar, inflexible, deceitful, malicious, lazy, despondent, and…
Word-by-word→
- me
- from me
- sarva
- all
- etāni
- these
- nibodha
- listen
- pañcha
- five
- siddhaye
- for the accomplishment
- sānkhye
- of Sānkya
- proktāni
- explains
- karmaṇām
- of karmas
- mahā-bāho
- mighty-armed one
- kāraṇāni
- causes
- kṛita-ante
- stop reactions of karmas
Read this when you feel
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