Verse 13
Learn from Me, O
mighty-armed Arjuna, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya system for
the accomplishment of all actions!
Verse 14
The body, the doer, the
various senses, the different functions of various sorts, and the presiding
Deity, also, the fifth,
Verse 15
Whatever action a man
performs by his body, speech and mind, whether right or the reverse, these five
are its causes.
There are five conditioning factors behind any
kind of movement, action, work, or whatever it be.
Sankhya, which is the highest knowledge, and
which details the varieties of results that follow from different kinds of
karmas, tells us that there are five phases of an action.
Body
The physical body has something to say about the
quantum of work that we can execute, and also the quality of work that can be
expected from us. Whether our body is strong and healthy, or whether it is weak
and sick, is a factor that also is to be taken into consideration when we do
any work.
Hence, according to the nature of the physical
condition, there will also be the conditioning of the result that follows from
the action. That is one aspect among the five.
Doer - Karta
/ Soul
Kartā means
“the doer,” and refers to the soul. Although the soul itself does not perform
actions, it inspires the body-mind-intellect mechanism with the life force to
act. Further, it identifies with their actions, due to the influence of the
ego.
Therefore, it is responsible for
the actions performed by the body, and it is called both the knower and the
doer.
The Prasna Upaniṣhad states:
“It is the soul that sees, touches, hears, feels, tastes,
thinks, and comprehends. Thus, the soul is to be considered both—the knower and
the doer of actions.”
For easier comprehension, we can
understand this as soul+samskara or in very broader terms, the ego factor.
Various
senses
The instruments that we use in the performance
of action also condition the work. Suppose we dig a pit. If we dig with our
hands, we will get one type of result; but if we use a pickaxe or a shovel, or
a bulldozer, then different kinds of results will follow. The kind of
instrument that we use in the performance of action will also decide what kind
of result will follow.
So, it is about how our 5 Karma Indriyas are used, that the action
shapes up.
Different
functions of Mind
Even when we are doing one work, twenty ideas
may be in our mind at the same time, pulling us in different directions, and it
does not mean that a person thinks only one thought at a time. Even when we are
doing one work, if we are able to think only that and nothing else, we are really
a great person. But, generally that is not possible.
There is a memory of something that happened in
the past, and an apprehension of something that could take place in the future,
and a fear of something that is in the present.
These will distract the mind. These operations
of the mind which distract are also conditioning factors in the performance of
the work.
Proper functioning of mind with focused
intellect / viveka is what we have understood as Self Efforts or purushartha
and depending upon how we exercise this factor, our actions are performed by
us.
Presiding
deity
This has been explained by various commentators
in different ways.
Some say, these are the five elements.
Some say, this is the Atman and they justify this as under:-
“The five factors are the physical body, the
five senses such eyes, ears, etc., the ego, the life airs which govern
breathing and the atma the controller
of them all.
The Vedanta Sutra II.III.XXXIII beginning upadanat states: The atma of the jiva or embodied being at the death of the physical body takes the pranas along with it; therefore the atma is the controller.”
However, most appealing is the interpretation
given by Swami Krishnananda who says, this is Divine providence or the cosmic
will and explains,
Our very mind, our very body, our egoism, our
mental faculty, our very existence, is conditioned by the central Cosmic Will;
and if it does not permit any event to take place, that event will never take
place even if millions of people work hard to make it happen.
Whatever be our effort in the direction of guarding
our person, our society, or our country, it has to be sanctioned by the Supreme
Will. As Sri Krishna told Arjuna, “Go ahead. You will succeed.” But that
sanction was not there for the Kauravas, and the opposite result followed.
Thus, the final operative factor is the central
Universal Will, with which we have to always stand in a state of union and
communion. We should not egoistically assert too much of our own individual
agency in action. We are not the only agents. There are five agents in the performance
of an action, and among those five there is one supreme principle which we
cannot afford to forget: the existence of God in the world. The principle of
divinity permeating all things—the immanence of God—ultimately decides all
factors, though others also act as instruments”
Love.
