न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः ।
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥
Hindi · हिन्दी
परमेश्वर मनुष्योंके न कर्तापनकी, न कर्मोंकी और न कर्मफलके साथ संयोगकी रचना करते हैं किन्तु स्वभाव ही बरत रहा है ॥
English
The supreme being creates neither doership nor actions nor the link between action and result for people. Nature alone keeps moving.
What this verse means
The supreme being does not manufacture a separate doer, the actions, or the binding link between action and result. What actually operates is nature.
Context & commentary
On Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen, unable to act without guilt. Krishna goes deeper than duty and explains that the sense of personal doership is not the ultimate reality. Actions unfold through nature, not through a separate self.
Why this verse still matters
You replay a painful conversation at 2 a.m. and blame yourself for everything. This verse cuts through that loop: the ego claims ownership, but many forces move through a person.
The takeaway
There is relief in seeing that the ego is not the center of everything.
Word-by-word translation
न (not) / कर्तृत्वं (doership) / न (not) / कर्माणि (actions) / लोकस्य (of the world / for people) / सृजति (creates) / प्रभुः (the supreme being) / न (not) / कर्मफलसंयोगं (connection with action-result) / स्वभावः (nature) / तु (but) / प्रवर्तते (moves onward / operates)
This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5: Karma Sanyasa Yoga — The Yoga of Renunciation, which contains 29 verses.
Explore related themes: prakriti (31 verses), karma phala (10 verses)