Moksha Sanyasa Yoga · Verse 15

Bhagavad Gita 18.15

“Every deed comes from five causes, not one isolated doer.”

Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human-reviewed. Reviewed June 2026. Methodology →

शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः ।
न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ॥

Hindi · हिन्दी

मनुष्य, शरीर वाणी और मनके द्वारा शास्त्रविहित अथवा शास्त्रविरुद्ध जो कुछ भी कर्म आरम्भ करता है, उसके ये पूर्वोक्त पाँचों हेतु होते हैं ॥

English

Whatever action a person begins through body, speech, and mind—right or wrong—has these five causes.

Themes:five causes agency kartṛtva body-speech-mind sankhya

What this verse means

Any action a person starts through body, speech, or mind is driven by five causes, whether the action is proper or improper.

Context & commentary

On the Kurukshetra field, Krishna is breaking Arjuna’s usual idea of agency. After naming five causes behind every action, he adds that any deed begun through body, speech, or mind—right or wrong—arises from those causes, not from a single isolated doer.

Why this verse still matters

You send the message in anger, then later say, “I just snapped.” Krishna points earlier: the body, words, mind, habits, and conditions were already moving.

The takeaway

You are not the lone maker of your actions; many forces are already at work.

Word-by-word translation

शरीरवाङ्मनोभिः (through body, speech, and mind) / यत् (whatever) / कर्म (action) / प्रारभते (begins) / नरः (a person) / न्याय्यम् (right, proper) / वा (or) / विपरीतम् (wrong, contrary) / वा (or) / पञ्च (five) / एते (these) / तस्य (of that) / हेतवः (causes)

This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18: Moksha Sanyasa Yoga — Liberation through Renunciation, which contains 78 verses.

Explore related themes: sankhya (11 verses)