adhisthanam tatha karta karanam ca prithag-vidham vividhas ca prithak cesta daivam caivatra pancamam
The five causes are: the body as the seat of action, the individual doer, the various instruments of sense and action, the different kinds of effort, and divine providence as the fifth factor. All actions arise from the interplay of these five.
- •The body, doer, instruments, effort, and divine will are the five causes of action
- •No action can be understood apart from this fivefold causation
- •Recognizing divine providence as a factor humbles the ego's claim to sole agency
jnanam jneyam parijnata tri-vidha karma-codana karta karma karanam iti tri-vidhah karma-sangrahah
Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower form the threefold impulse to action. The doer, the act, and the instrument of action form the threefold basis of action. All action is structured by these two triads.
- •Every action arises from the triad of knower, knowledge, and object of knowledge
- •Every action is constituted by the triad of doer, act, and instrument
- •Understanding these triads reveals the full structural anatomy of action
jnanam karma ca karta ca tridhaiva guna-bhedata procyate guna-sankhyane yathavac chrinu tany api
In the Sankhya analysis of the gunas, knowledge, action, and the doer are each described as threefold according to their gunic quality. Krishna invites Arjuna to hear these distinctions properly, as they illuminate the nature of all activity.
- •The gunas divide knowledge, action, and the doer each into three kinds
- •Sankhya philosophy provides the analytical framework for this tripartite teaching
- •Understanding gunic distinctions clarifies the quality and karmic weight of any act