प्रकृते: क्रियमाणानि गुणै: कर्माणि सर्वश: |
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते || 27||
prakṛiteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśhaḥ
ahankāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
prakṛiteḥ—of material nature; kriyamāṇāni—carried out; guṇaiḥ—by the three modes; karmāṇi—activities; sarvaśhaḥ—all kinds of; ahankāra-vimūḍha-ātmā—those who are bewildered by the ego and misidentify themselves with the body; kartā—the doer; aham—I; iti—thus; manyate—thinks
Translation:
By the qualities of nature, actions are performed in all cases, but one whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks “I am the doer”.
Commentary:
The Lord explains how the action takes place. Action takes place by the power of the qualities of nature. Those qualities are – Satva, Rajas, and Tamas. They are called the three Gunas. These qualities of nature are modified into the four elements – manas, buddhi, chitta, ahamkara, the five subtle elements, the five organs of action, the five organs of perception, and the five objects of the senses. Thus the human organism and the universe around are the product of Nature. All actions wherever and in whatever manner they take place are actually done by the power of the three gunas. Atma remains as the eternal uncontaminated witness. The real man is Atma. It is the witness of the body, the internal and external organs, and the modifications of the mind. In truth, the real man is not the doer. All the actions that man apparently performs with his physical and subtle organs is the work of Nature, and not of the man himself in his real Being. But the deluded man having identified himself with the body thinks “I am the doer,” and so thinking he burdens himself with the responsibility for all of them. Consequently, he has to pass through several births and suffer endless pain and sorrow.
This is exactly the difference between the wise and the ignorant. The ignorant man imagines himself to be the body and thinks that he is the doer, enjoyer of all actions and the fruits thereof. The wise man seprates himself from the vehicle of the body and knows that he is the Self, that he is not the doer nor is he subject to the binding power of his actions.
Joy and sorrow depend upon the idea of doership. If you think you are the body, you have to bear pain and grief and all the innumerable ills of life. If you think you are the Self, you are at the source of all bliss. So let the seeker discriminate between the Self and the non-Self, and know his real nature. Then all that he does is sublimated into the Self and remains unaffected.
The secret of Karma Yoga is to understand the law how actions are performed and with what power they are performed. The Lord makes it clear that the cause of action is Nature functioning through the three gunas.
One whose mind is deluded by egoism: The ignorant man is deluded by his ego and considers that he is doing this and that and all the thousand actions of bodily life. Identification with the body “Dehatma Buddhi” is the root cause of delusion. Such a man is called Vimudhatma. The wise man knows that he is the blissful and blessed Brahman.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
“Therefore, Arjuna, all these actions are in nature. Nature … is working out her own laws in our bodies and minds. We identify ourselves with nature and say, ‘I am doing this.’ This way delusion seizes us.” We always act under some compulsion. When hunger compels me, I eat. And suffering is still worse — slavery. That real “I” is eternally free. What can compel it to do anything? The sufferer is in nature. It is only when we identify ourselves with the body that we say, “I am suffering; I am Mr. So-and-so” — all such nonsense. But he who has known the truth, holds himself aloof. Whatever his body does, whatever his mind does, he does not care. But mind you, the vast majority of mankind are under this delusion; and whenever they do any good, they feel that they are [the doers].[Source]
Question: How are actions performed?
Answer: They are performed by the three gunas born of nature.
Question: What does the ignorant man think?
Answer: He identifies himself with the gunas and thinks that he is the doer.
Question: What is the effect?
Answer: He is bound by the wheel of birth and death. So man should know that he is the blissful Self and not the body.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 3 🔻 (43 Verses)
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