Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 27

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः ।
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते ॥

Transliteration

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ .
ahaṅkāravimūḍhātmā kartāhamiti manyate ॥

Meaning

All actions are performed in every way by the gunas of Nature; but one whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks, ‘I am the doer.’

Word meanings

प्रकृतेः – of Prakriti, Nature
गुणैः – by the gunas
क्रियमाणानि – being performed
कर्माणि – actions
सर्वशः – in every way
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा – one whose mind is deluded by ego
अहम् – I
कर्ता – am the doer
इति – thus
मन्यते – thinks

Anvaya (word order)

प्रकृतेः गुणैः सर्वशः कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि (सन्ति); अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा 'अहं कर्ता' इति मन्यते ।

Explanation

This verse turns the spotlight from action to the one who claims it. All actions, the Lord says, are being performed in every way by the gunas of prakriti. Yet the person whose mind is deluded by ahankara, the sense of "I", thinks: "I am the doer." The error is subtle and universal. The body, breath, senses and intellect move in accordance with nature's forces, and the ego quickly signs its name on every deed.

Consider how a thought arises. We do not decide to have it; it appears. Hunger arrives without being invited; anger rises before we choose it; a fine idea comes as if from outside. The ego then announces, "I thought this, I felt this, I did this", and takes both the credit and the blame. That claim to authorship is the root of pride, guilt and anxiety.

Shankara reads the verse as the teaching of the Self's non-doership: the Self is distinct from the body and mind, and its actionlessness is realised when one sees that the gunas alone operate. Ramanuja understands it as meaning that the soul's activity is entirely dependent on the gunas and, above them, on the Lord who rules them; to think of oneself as independent doer is the delusion. Madhva too holds that real independence belongs to the Supreme, and the soul acts only by His power.

The verse is sometimes misunderstood as an excuse. It does not say "since nature does everything, I need not take responsibility." Responsibility remains with us in the sense that duty must be performed. What falls away is the proud claim, the "I alone have done this". Without that claim, success does not inflate and failure does not crush.

The teaching is easy to test. During a calm hour, watch how thoughts and moods arise and pass, and ask who the watcher is. The next verse, 3.28, speaks of the one who knows the distinction between the gunas and their action and is not attached; the idea is developed in 13.20, 14.19 and 18.16, and also in 5.8 and 5.9, where the knower of truth says, "I do nothing at all".

Context

Verse 3.26 spoke of the wise guiding the ignorant. Verse 3.27 exposes the root of ignorance — the ego of doership — and 3.28 will give the view of the one who knows the truth.

Life lesson

Pride in success and self-reproach in failure both hide the delusion ‘I alone am the doer’. See action as a blend of your ability, circumstance and grace, and stay humble.

Key terms

Prakriti: the three-guna primal Nature, material cause of body, mind and so on
Guna: sattva, rajas, tamas — the three modes of Nature
Ahankara: ego; the pride ‘I am the doer’