न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभु: |
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते || 14||
na kartṛitvaṁ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛijati prabhuḥ
na karma-phala-saṅyogaṁ svabhāvas tu pravartate
na—neither; kartṛitvam—sense of doership; na—nor; karmāṇi—actions; lokasya—of the people; sṛijati—creates; prabhuḥ—God; na—nor; karma-phala—fruits of actions; sanyogam—connection; svabhāvaḥ—one’s nature; tu—but; pravartate—is enacted
Translation:
The Lord (Atma) does not create agency, nor action, nor the union of action and its fruit; but Nature leads to action.
Commentary:
The Lord (Atma) has nothing to do with personal agency, or actions or the union of action with its fruits. He does not direct man to do this or that. Nature carries on the whole of this universal drama according to its own laws. By the power of Prakriti man has attached himself to actions, and thinks that he is acting, enjoying suffering, and that he is the doer. In fact, it is not the real man that is the doer. The personal agent is a spurious idea created by the power of Maya. Having thus forgotten his real nature, man has created for himself a wilderness of likes and dislikes, good and bad-evil desires, and those samskaras go on functioning in their own way through the variegated phenomena of life. To know this secret is Knowledge. When a man does evil, it is not the real Self that does evil, but man’s nature. When a man does good, it is not the real Self that does good, but man’s nature. So, the evil accumulated in one’s nature should be counteracted by the good, and then one should rise above both good and evil in the realisation of Atma. The seeker need not be disheartened by the evil in him. It is his own making, and what he has done, he can undo also. Effort is needed in that direction for self-purification. This struggle is the natural order of life. The Lord has nothing to do with it. Man has to attain purification by his own effort. The Lord here states that personal agency, actions and their results are all conducted by the power of Prakriti.
Question: Is the Lord concerned with the actions of man?
Answer: No.
Question: Then what is the power that is creating these actions?
Answer: Prakriti (Nature). The natural tendencies of man carry on the drama of earthly life.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 5 🔻 (29 Verses)
