अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् । विविधाश् च पृथक् चेष्टा दैवम् चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ॥
adhiṣṭhānaṃ tathā kartā karaṇaṃ ca pṛthag-vidham | vividhāś ca pṛthak ceṣṭā daivam caivātra pañcamam ||
Five causes of action: body-locus, agent, various instruments, diverse efforts, and — fifth — the Divine/Fate.
Word by word (3)
- adhiṣṭhānaṃ tathā kartā karaṇaṃ ca pṛthag-vidham
- — the substratum/locus (adhiṣṭhānam = the seat/basis — the body as the operative field of action), and likewise (tathā) the agent (kartā = the doer/jīva), and the various (pṛthag-vidham = of different kinds) instruments (karaṇam = organs of action and perception)
- vividhāś ca pṛthak ceṣṭā daivam caivātra pañcamam
- — and (ca) the various/manifold (vividhāḥ) separate/distinct (pṛthak) movements/functions/efforts (ceṣṭāḥ), and also (ca eva) here (atra) the Divine/Fate as the fifth (daivam pañcamam = daiva as the fifth factor) — daiva = the unseen cosmic factor, destiny, the divine orchestration that shapes outcomes
- daivam pañcamam
- — daiva as the fifth factor — the most philosophically significant: even with body + agent + instruments + efforts all in place, the outcome depends on a fifth factor beyond human control (daiva = the divine order, karmic momentum, cosmic orchestration). This is why the tyāgī releases fruit — the fifth cause is beyond any individual doer
The locus (body), the agent, the various instruments, the various efforts, and — the fifth — Destiny/the Divine: these are the five causes of all action.
A modern analogy
Even a simple act like typing an email requires all five: (1) the computer and workspace (adhiṣṭhāna), (2) you the decision-maker (kartā), (3) your fingers and keyboard (karaṇa), (4) the actual keystrokes (ceṣṭā), and (5) whether the server is up and the message is received (daiva). You control four of the five — the fifth is always partly beyond you. This is why fruit-attachment is philosophically misplaced: the fifth cause guarantees that you are never the sole author of any outcome.
V14 gives the five causes announced in V13. The fifth factor — daiva (divine/destiny/cosmic law) — is philosophically crucial: even when all four human factors are in place, the outcome is subject to this fifth unseen factor. This provides the rational basis for the tyāgī's fruit-release: not 'I should not care about results' (which is a willful indifference) but 'I am genuinely not the sole cause of any result' (which is an accurate understanding). V15 will apply this five-cause analysis to all actions of body, speech, and mind.
Daiva (the fifth cause) has multiple resonances: it can mean fate/karma-residue from past lives, the cosmic divine will, the planetary/astrological influences, or simply the part of causation that exceeds human calculation. Shankaracharya identifies it with Paramātman (the Lord within) — consistent with Ch.15 V15's God seated in every heart as the ultimate cause. This reading makes V14's daiva a direct reference to Krishna as the fifth cause who orchestrates all outcomes — supporting the bhakti understanding that surrender (samarpaṇa) to the Lord is the natural response.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The seat and actor and the various organs, and the several functions of various sorts, and the Divinity also, the fifth among these. [1]
MISSING from index. [4]
The substratum, the agent likewise, the various sorts of organs, and the various and distinct movements, and with these the deities, too, as the fifth. [9]
Substratum, agent, the diverse kinds of organs, the diverse efforts severally, and with them the deities as the fifth. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
Even the wise are confused about action vs. inaction. I will explain — knowing this frees you from all wrong.
Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — my settled, highest opinion.
One who — given the five causes — sees the self alone as doer due to unrefined intellect sees not; that is durmati.
Wise action without fruit-seeking breaks the birth-cycle and leads to the sorrowless state.
Actions don't taint Me — I have no longing for their fruits. Whoever knows Me thus is not bound by their actions.