शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर् यत् कर्म प्रारभते नरः । न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ॥
śarīra-vāṅ-manobhir yat karma prārabhate naraḥ | nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ ||
Whatever action a person initiates with body, speech, and mind — right or the reverse — these five are its causes.
Word by word (3)
- śarīra-vāṅ-manobhir yat karma prārabhate naraḥ
- — whatever (yat) action/karma (karma) a person (naraḥ) initiates/begins (prārabhate) with body (śarīra), speech (vāk), and mind (manaḥ) — the comprehensive triad of human activity: physical + verbal + mental
- nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā
- — whether right/just/in accordance with dharma (nyāyyam = what should be done, proper) OR the reverse/contrary (viparītam = the opposite, improper) — the five causes apply regardless of the moral quality of the action; both dharmic and adharmic acts have the same five-cause structure
- pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ
- — these five (pañca ete) are its causes (tasya hetavaḥ = the reasons/causes for that) — all of V14's five factors are the causes of every action, whether śarīra/vāk/manas, whether right or wrong
Whatever action a person initiates with body, speech, or mind — whether right or the opposite — these five are its causes.
A modern analogy
V15 universalizes V14: whether you are doing something noble (donating, studying, meditating) or harmful (lying, hurting, deceiving) — the same five causes are at work. There is no special category of action where you are 'the sole cause.' This universality is what makes fruit-renunciation (V9's sāttvic tyāga) a rational metaphysical position, not just an ethical attitude.
V15 completes the five-cause announcement (V13-15): V13 = 'here are five causes'; V14 = 'they are: body/agent/instruments/efforts/divine'; V15 = 'these apply to ALL actions of body-speech-mind, right or wrong.' V16-17 will draw the conclusion: anyone who sees 'I alone am the doer' fails to see this five-cause truth. The V13-17 unit provides the epistemological basis for karma yoga: not 'release fruit as a spiritual discipline' but 'see clearly how causation works and fruit-attachment naturally dissolves.'
Nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā (right or the contrary) is significant: the five-cause structure includes sinful/harmful actions. This means that even negative karma has the five-cause structure — including daiva as the fifth factor. This does not absolve the individual (kartā is one of the five), but it contextualizes the kartā's responsibility: neither 'I did it alone' (which ignores the other four) nor 'fate did it' (which ignores the kartā factor). The balanced understanding is: 'I was one of five causes — accountable but not the sole author.'
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Whatever action a man does by the body, speech and mind, right or the opposite, these five are its causes. [1]
Whatever action a man performs by his body, speech, and mind — whether right or the reverse — these five are its causes. [4]
Whatever action, just or otherwise, a man performs with his body, speech, and mind, these five are its causes. [9]
With body, speech, or mind, whatever work, just or the reverse, a man undertakes, these five are its causes. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sāttvic kartā: attachment-free, non-egotistic, firm, enthusiastic, unmoved by success or failure.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Wise action without fruit-seeking breaks the birth-cycle and leads to the sorrowless state.
Many, freed from attachment, fear, and anger, purified by knowledge-austerity — have attained My being.
Actions don't taint Me — I have no longing for their fruits. Whoever knows Me thus is not bound by their actions.
Some say all karma is faulty and should be abandoned; others say yajña-dāna-tapas must not be abandoned.