If prakrti performs all actions, what exactly is 'my' contribution to anything I do today — and does that change my relationship to credit and blame?

All actions are carried out entirely by *prakṛti*; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/29.

Sankara says the ajnani kills himself with every rebirth by putting on a new false self. In what small way do I perform this same operation each morning when I reconstruct 'who I am' from yesterday's roles?

All actions are carried out entirely by *prakṛti*; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/29.

Ramanuja frames non-agency as seeing the atman as a qualifier of Bhagavan rather than a standalone self. What would it feel like to act from that position — as an adjective rather than a noun?

All actions are carried out entirely by *prakṛti*; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/29.

Vallabha cites the sruti warning that seeing the self 'otherwise than it is' is theft. What habitual narrative about myself am I stealing from a truer account?

All actions are carried out entirely by *prakṛti*; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/29.

All six schools agree that correct seeing leads to para gati and incorrect seeing leads to harm — but they disagree on what 'correct seeing' means. What does that tell us about the relationship between metaphysics and ethics in the Gita?

All actions are carried out entirely by *prakṛti*; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/29.

The verse says one who sees this 'does not injure the Self through the Self.' Can self-criticism, perfectionism, or shame be a form of this self-injury — and what would it mean to stop?

All actions are carried out entirely by *prakṛti*; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/29.

BG 13.29 — Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 13.29Chapter 13 · Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

प्रकृत्यैव च कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि सर्वशः ।

यः पश्यति तथात्मानमकर्तारं स पश्यति ॥

prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ

yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam akartāraṃ sa paśyati

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

All actions are carried out entirely by *prakṛti*; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly.

ekras · bhāṣya

All actions are kriyamanani — being performed — entirely by prakriti. Whoever sees the atman as akarta — non-agent — sah pashyati, that one truly sees.

Krishna names the recognition that splits the rebirth-engine: actions belong to the field; the witness does not act. Without this seeing, every karma sticks; with it, the witness is free.

Shankara reads precisely. All actions are performed entirely by prakriti; the Self — pure awareness, changeless — does not act. The ajnani repeatedly kills his own atman by misidentifying it with the body-mind complex, taking up each new birth as a fresh false self. The one who truly sees the Self as akarta, ever-identical across all beings, sees what the chapter has been pointing to from 13.1. The mistake is structural; the correction is structural.

Madhusudana synthesizes Shankara's epistemology with devotional urgency: the ajnani kills himself in two ways — obscures the real Self through avidya, and discards each false-self body only to don another, karma-driven rebirth. The jnani, recognizing ayam aham asmi through shastra-drishti, dissolves anatmani-atma-abhimana — the false projection of self onto not-self. The verse names the sole structural cure.

Ramanuja reads prakritya eva — by prakriti alone — all actions are performed in every mode; sarvani karmani karya-karana-kartritve hetuh prakritih, as already stated at 13.20. The one who sees kriyamanani being performed by prakriti in this manner, and who also sees atmanam akartaram jnana-akaram cha — the atman as non-agent and as knowing-formed — sees truly. The bhakta who holds this sees agency in its proper place: in the field, animated by Bhagavan as antaryamin, never lodged in the atman itself.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: prakriti performs all actions entirely; the jiva who sees the atman as akarta sees truly. The akartritva of the jiva does not dissolve the jiva into Brahman — pancha-bheda stands unreduced. The jiva is paratantra; its seeming agency is borrowed from the field's prakritic motion. Hari alone is svatantra-karta; the jiva is correctly seen as an akarta-witness aligned with the field's Hari-driven motion.

Vallabha anchors the reading in Yajurveda shruti: 'He who sees the self other than it truly is — what sin has he not committed, this thief who steals the self?' The one who sees samyak — correctly — does not see otherwise; he does not substitute an alien identity for the real Self. This correct seeing protects the sadhaka; it is not cold knowledge but the recognition that saves him from being a self-thief.

Shridhara explains plainly: because the yogi sees Paramatman abiding sama, svapracyuta-svarupa — its own form undiminished — in every being, he does not destroy the Self through avidya. The contrast class is the dehatma-darshi who identifies self with body, who injures the atman and descends to asurya lokas. The akarta-vision is the protective seeing.

Context

where

Chapter 13 · Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 13.28

When you see the same Lord standing equally in all beings, you stop harming yourself, and from that seeing you reach the highest goal.

What's going on

All actions are carried out entirely by prakṛti; whoever sees the self as the one who does not act sees truly.

Sūtras through this verse (54)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

13.1Two niṣṭhās, three kāṇḍas — keystone.───→here13.29───→18.78Sealed: the means stands on the end stands.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

13.2Field and knower both predicate Me.───→here13.29───→13.32Touches without being stained.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

13.2Architectural claim: the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here13.29───→14.1Two-verse prelude names guṇa-vibhāga.

show all 54

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

13.1Vākyārtha hexad begins. Anchor.───→here13.29───→15.20Whole teaching named guhyatamaṃ śāstram.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

13.1Ch 13 opens by binding to the middle hexad.───→here13.29───→18.1Final chapter compresses seed and answer.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

13.1Boundary protected by stylized doubt.───→here13.29───→18.66Closing verse opened by doubt-and-answer.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyatebetween

13.7Twenty jñāna-qualities: still description.───→here13.29───→14.22Guṇātīta-lakṣaṇa follows the same rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousbetween

13.1Prakṛti's autonomy blocked at boundary. Anchor.───→here13.29───→14.1Modes belong to the Lord's prakṛti.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

13.1Same discipline at the keystone chapter.───→here13.29───→18.1Final chapter opens with the same form.

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

13.7Itihasa stories and the witness virtues. 'Amanitvam adambhitvam ahimsa kshantir ───→here13.29───→17.15Mantra and speech. 'Anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha yat, svadhyaya-

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologybetween

13.27'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' The same Lord seated equal ───→here13.29───→18.46'Yatah pravrittir bhutanam yena sarvam idam tatam, sva-karmana tam abhyarchya si

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

13.27Atman / Brahman pillar. 'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' The───→here13.29───→18.66Closing pillar in the longer CHI deliveries. 'Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

6.29'Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani cha'tmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvat───→here13.29───→13.32'Anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatma'yam avyayah, sharira-stho'pi Kaunteya na karoti

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

13.1Open the third ṣaṭka: field and knower.───→here13.29───→14.1Beyond sāṅkhya: the modes that bind.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśabetween

13.22Witness, consenter, upholder.───→here13.29───→13.32Touches without being stained.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerbetween

13.2Those who posit ajñāna in Brahman fail.───→here13.29───→18.61The yantrin reading forecloses the residue.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

13.2The whole vibhūti clinches sāmānādhikaraṇya.───→here13.29───→18.42Even brāhmaṇa grounded here.

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktabetween

13.20Both natures cause the body's binding.───→here13.29───→14.5Three modes bind the soul.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

13.21Clinging to modes is why you are reborn.───→here13.29───→15.1Cut the world-tree at its root, clinging.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

13.21Clinging to modes causes any new birth.───→here13.29───→14.5Three modes bind the imperishable.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.───→here13.29───→15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.───→here13.29───→15.7Self drags the senses like wind drags scent.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here13.29───→

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidexit

12.12'Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyaga───→here13.29───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

9.9Like one detached, not actually───→here13.29───→13.30Seer of non-action by Hari's light

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvarabetween

13.12Hands and feet on every side, beyond all.───→here13.29───→15.16Two persons inside the field, one beyond.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.───→here13.29───→15.8The Lord carries the soul from body to body.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.───→here13.29───→13.30The seer of non-action sees by Hari's light.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.───→here13.29───→18.66I shall release you from every wrong.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

13.2I lift my devotees, so I now teach truth.───→here13.29───→14.1Now, the highest of all knowings.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

13.3The soul is part of the supreme Person.───→here13.29───→15.7The soul is My eternal part — its ānanda hidden. .

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

13.24The threefold-knower catalogue goes to silence.───→here13.29───→17.12The threefold yajña/dāna/tapas catalogue is skipped.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentarybetween

13.2The Lord himself writes the third ṣaṭka. .───→here13.29───→15.15The bhāṣya-author is named by the Lord himself.

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalapproach

───→here13.29───→14.26Fit for the state of brahman, not fused.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerexit

11.34Already slain — the question is finally retired.───→here13.29───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerexit

11.49Cosmic returns to gracious; ananya means non-dual.───→here13.29───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureexit

11.46Cosmic and gracious one self-luminous.───→here13.29───→

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeexit

13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.───→here13.29───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeexit

13.10A steady evenness is the seeker's mark.───→here13.29───→

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderexit

13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here13.29───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemybetween

13.2One Self lights every body as one sun lights all.───→here13.29───→18.66Beginningless habit ends only with self-knowledge.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedbetween

5.29Knowing Me, all wandering ceases at once.───→here13.29───→13.34One Self, untouched, in every body.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

13.2'Cāpi' marks two — not one identity.───→here13.29───→15.15Memory and forgetting both come from Him.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

13.3Knower and field: the boundary is sharp.───→here13.29───→18.66Counterfeit reasonings named, then rejected.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

13.1The kṣetra-question resolves 12.20's hint.───→here13.29───→18.1Tyāga-question resolves ch. 16-17's typology.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

13.5Brahma-sūtra is text, not just utterance.───→here13.29───→15.16Refusing kṣara=inert, akṣara=soul.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

13.5Brahma-sūtra is text, not paraphrase.───→here13.29───→15.16Bhūta covers jīva; literal range holds.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

13.13Only the formless can be the ultimately taught.───→here13.29───→15.1Krishna is the ground, not a partner-god.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

13.13Not a power-of-the-Lord; the Lord himself, formless.───→here13.29───→14.27I am the foundation of formless Brahman itself.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingexit

11.55Acting for Me, holding Me supreme — that is the road.───→here13.29───→

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideexit

13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.───→here13.29───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningexit

13.1The last six work what 'are' really means.───→here13.29───→

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

13.9Indifference to objects───→here13.29───→15.5Free of pride and delusion

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

13.20Prakriti causes, puruṣa enjoys───→here13.29───→18.16Wrong-seer fails the act

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 13 occurrences)

पश्यति dṛś ×2 — to see (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb · also at 2.29, 5.5, 6.30, 6.32, 13.27, 13.30 +2
कर्माणि karman — action, deed, the law of action · accusative neuter plural noun · also at 1.1, 2.48, 3.26, 3.27, 3.30, 4.14 +12
क्रियमाणानि √kṛ — to do, make (verbal root) · accusative neuter plural present participle pass verb

show all 12

प्रकृत्या prakṛti — primordial nature (pra- + √kṛ 'do' — 'that from which all is made') · instrumental feminine singular noun
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
सर्वशस् sarvaśas — in every way, completely
यः yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine singular noun
तथा tathā — thus, in that manner; likewise
आत्मानम् ātman — the Self, soul; one's own self · accusative masculine singular noun
अकर्तारम् akartṛ — non-doer (a- + kartṛ 'doer' from √kṛ) · accusative masculine singular noun
स tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (6)

01If prakrti performs all actions, what exactly is 'my' contribution to anything I do today — and does that change my relationship to credit and blame?
02Sankara says the ajnani kills himself with every rebirth by putting on a new false self. In what small way do I perform this same operation each morning when I reconstruct 'who I am' from yesterday's roles?

show all 6

03Ramanuja frames non-agency as seeing the atman as a qualifier of Bhagavan rather than a standalone self. What would it feel like to act from that position — as an adjective rather than a noun?
04Vallabha cites the sruti warning that seeing the self 'otherwise than it is' is theft. What habitual narrative about myself am I stealing from a truer account?
05All six schools agree that correct seeing leads to para gati and incorrect seeing leads to harm — but they disagree on what 'correct seeing' means. What does that tell us about the relationship between metaphysics and ethics in the Gita?
06The verse says one who sees this 'does not injure the Self through the Self.' Can self-criticism, perfectionism, or shame be a form of this self-injury — and what would it mean to stop?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you receive praise or blame for a project outcome, sit for one breath and ask: 'Who exactly received this?' Trace the chain — body moved, mind planned, senses executed, all under conditions you did not choose. The akarta is not absent; it is the witness of all of it. Practice this at the moment of strongest ownership.

Dvaita

When you feel the impulse to take sole credit for an insight or achievement, pause and name the actual chain of teachers, circumstances, and prior causes that made it possible. Madhva's jiva is real but dependent; gratitude to Hari is the correct cognitive response to any success. Try writing one such chain each evening.

show all 4

Bhakti

Sridhara's contrast class is practical: the dehatmadarsi injures himself. Identify one recurring way you treat your body or mind as the totality of who you are — overwork, harsh self-talk, compulsive image-management. This is the avidya that 'destroys the Self.' Choose one concrete boundary that protects the deeper Self this week.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana says the jnanin uses sastra-drishti — scriptural vision — as the instrument of correct seeing. This is not mere study; it is using a proven description of reality as a lens in live situations. When a conflict or failure arises today, apply the lens: 'The one who acted is a formation of prakrti; the witness is untouched.' Report to yourself whether the sting lessens.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 13, Verse 29: Krishna to Arjuna — Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga