पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे । सांख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् ॥
pañcaitāni mahābāho kāraṇāni nibodha me | sāṃkhye kṛtānte proktāni siddhaye sarva-karmaṇām ||
Learn these five causes of all action from Me, O Mighty-armed — as declared in the Sāṃkhya final teaching.
Word by word (3)
- pañcaitāni mahābāho kāraṇāni nibodha me
- — these five (pañca etāni) causes (kāraṇāni) — know/learn (nibodha = understand thoroughly) from Me (me), O Mighty-armed (mahābāho) — Krishna transitions from the tyāga teaching to a new Sāṃkhya analysis
- sāṃkhye kṛtānte proktāni siddhaye sarva-karmaṇām
- — declared/stated (proktāni) in the Sāṃkhya system at the final conclusion (sāṃkhye kṛtānte = in the Sāṃkhya treatise-end/conclusion-section), for the accomplishment/completion (siddhaye) of all actions (sarva-karmaṇām) — these five causes underlie the completion of every action
- kṛtānte
- — at the conclusion/end (kṛta = done + anta = end); the Sāṃkhya's culminating doctrinal statement; the five causes of action are the Sāṃkhya system's answer to the question 'what makes any action happen?' — kṛtānta may also mean 'the science of karma-completion'
Know from Me, O Mighty-armed, these five causes of the accomplishment of all actions, as declared in the Sāṃkhya system.
A modern analogy
V13 is an announcement verse — signaling a philosophical pivot from discussing HOW to act (tyāga) to WHY actions happen at all (their five causes). Understanding these five causes is what enables the V9 sāttvic tyāga: when you see that the 'I' is just one of five causes — not the sole agent — releasing fruit-attachment becomes natural.
V13-17 give the Sāṃkhya five-cause analysis of action. This section is philosophically crucial: it provides the metaphysical basis for why sāttvic tyāga (V9) is not just an ethical attitude but an accurate perception of reality. If the 'I' is only one of five causes (V14), then the ego-doer claim ('I did this alone') is literally false — not merely immodest. This is the bridge between karma yoga (V9's tyāga practice) and jñāna yoga (accurate understanding of agency).
The reference to sāṃkhye kṛtānte connects Ch.18 to the Sāṃkhya system's account of causation. Classical Sāṃkhya analyzes action through the twenty-five tattvas (principles); the Gita here uses a condensed five-factor account. V14 will list the five: adhisthāna (locus/substrate), kartā (agent), karaṇa (instruments/organs), ceṣṭā (efforts/movements), daiva (destiny/the divine fifth factor). Together these deconstruct the naive sense that 'I alone am the doer.'
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
MISSING from index. [1]
MISSING from index. [4]
Learn from me, O you of mighty arms! these five causes of the completion of all actions, declared in the Sankhya system. [9]
Listen from me, O thou of mighty arms, to those five causes for the completion of all actions declared in the Sankhya treating of the annihilation of actions. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
Sāttvic jñāna: seeing ONE imperishable being in ALL — undivided among the divided.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
Seeing inaction in action, action in inaction — that one is wise, a yogi, a complete doer of all actions.
Acting for reward is the lowest form of action. Seek the wisdom that transcends reward-seeking.