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Ch 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18, Verse 13: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 18.13Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Mahābāho · anuṣṭubh
पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे ।
साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् ॥
pañca← pañcan(3 verses)accusative neuter plural nounfive (numeral)attested in commentariesadvaitaएतानि वक्ष्यमाणानिviśiṣṭādvaitaएतानि कारणानि निबोध मे मम सकाशात् अनुसंधत्स्वadvaita-bhaktiवेदान्तप्रमाणमूलानिitāni mahā← mahat(43 verses)compound (compound member)great, large; the cosmic intellect (mahattattva)bāho← bāhu(19 verses)vocative masculine singular nounarm kāraṇāni← kāraṇa(6 verses)accusative neuter plural nouncause, reasonattested in commentariesadvaitaनिर्वर्तकानि निबोध मे मम इतिviśiṣṭādvaitaनिबोध मे मम सकाशात् अनुसंधत्स्वśuddhādvaitaनिबोध मे मम सकाशादवधेहिbhaktiमे वचनान्निबोध जानीहिadvaita-bhaktiनिर्वर्तकानि nibodha← ni-√budh(3 verses)present imperative 2nd person singular verb(ni- + budh: to wake)attested in commentariesadvaitaमे मम इतिviśiṣṭādvaitaमे मम सकाशात् अनुसंधत्स्वśuddhādvaitaमे मम सकाशादवधेहि me← mad(383 verses)genitive singular nounI, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root)
sāṅkhye← sāṃkhya(7 verses)locative neuter singular nounSāṃkhya (one of the six darśanas); knowledge, enumeration (from √khyā)attested in commentariesviśiṣṭādvaitaकृतान्ते इति न साङ्ख्यसिद्धान्तो विवक्षितः, तत्रेश्वरानभ्युपगमात् करणातिरिक्तस्य कर्तृत्वानभ्युपगमेनकर्ता करणं पृथग्विधśuddhādvaitaप्रोक्तानि सिद्धान्तीकृत्योक्तानि सर्वकर्मणां सिद्धये पञ्चैतानि कारणानि निबोध मे मम सकाशादवधेहि kṛtānte← kṛtāntalocative masculine singular nounfate, destiny ('end-maker'); deathattested in commentariesadvaitaइति तस्यैव विशेषणम्viśiṣṭādvaitaयथावस्थिततत्त्वविषयया वैदिक्या बुद्ध्या अनुसंहिते निर्णये सर्वकर्मणां सिद्धये -- उत्पत्तये प्रोक्तानि पञ्च एतानि कारणानdvaitaज्ञानसिद्धान्तेśuddhādvaitaसिद्धान्ते कृतनिर्णये वा साङ्ख्ये प्रोक्तानि सिद्धान्तीकृत्योक्तानि सर्वकर्मणां सिद्धये पञ्चैतानि कारणानि निबोध मे मम सadvaita-bhaktiप्रोक्तानीति proktāni← pra-√vac(18 verses)accusative neuter plural participle nounto declare (pra- + √vac 'speak forth')attested in commentariesadvaitaकथितानि सिद्धये निष्पत्त्यर्थं सर्वकर्मणाम्viśiṣṭādvaitaपञ्च एतानि कारणानि निबोध मे मम सकाशात् अनुसंधत्स्वśuddhādvaitaसिद्धान्तीकृत्योक्तानि सर्वकर्मणां सिद्धये पञ्चैतानि कारणानि निबोध मे मम सकाशादवधेहिadvaita-bhaktiप्रसिद्धान्येव लोकेऽनात्मभूतान्येवात्मतया मिथ्याज्ञानारोपेण गृहीतान्यात्मतत्त्वज्ञानेन बाधसिद्धये siddhaye← siddhi(14 verses)dative feminine singular nounperfection, attainment, success; supernatural power (yogic)attested in commentariesadvaitaनिष्पत्त्यर्थं सर्वकर्मणाम्viśiṣṭādvaita-- उत्पत्तये प्रोक्तानि पञ्च एतानि कारणानि निबोध मे मम सकाशात् अनुसंधत्स्वśuddhādvaitaपञ्चैतानि कारणानि निबोध मे मम सकाशादवधेहिbhaktiनिष्पत्तये इमानि वक्ष्यमाणानि पञ्च कारणानि मे वचनान्निबोध जानीहिadvaita-bhaktiनिष्पत्तये कारणानि निर्वर्तकानि sarva← sarva(138 verses)compound (compound member)all, entirekarmaṇām← karman(144 verses)genitive neuter plural nounaction, deed, the law of action
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Learn from me, Arjuna, the five causes that *sāṅkhya* names as the roots of every action; once you see them clearly, the claim that you alone are the doer falls away.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    Krishna introduces the panca-karanani (five causes of action) as taught in Sankhya — which Sankara reads as Vedanta itself, the sastra where all action (krta) finds its end (anta). The five causes are not instructions for better doing; they are the anatomy of avidya (nescience) that makes the jiva imagine itself to be a doer at all. Once atma-jnana arises, sarvakarmani parisampyante — all action is exhausted in knowledge, as the Gita itself declared at 4.33. Learn these, O Mahabaho, not to perfect action, but to see through it.

    divergence: Sankara alone reads Sankhya as unambiguously = Vedanta, and the five causes as heya (to be discarded) once jnana dawns.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    The vaidiki buddhi — understanding shaped by scriptural truth — settles (krtante) in Sankhya-sastra and recognises that the real karta (agent) in every action is Paramatman, who indwells body, senses, prana, and jiva as their inner ruler (antaryamin). Learn these five causes from Me; to contemplate them is to redirect the sense of doership from the finite jiva toward the sovereign Lord who alone moves every limb. Action, seen clearly, is already kainkarya (service) to Bhagavan.

    divergence: Ramanuja uniquely frames the five causes as evidence of Paramatman's pervasive agency, not as heya; karma becomes kainkarya rather than something to be negated.

  • Madhvadvaita

    Madhva reads this verse as Krsna resuming the elaboration of sannyasa: to understand true renunciation, one must first know the five causes operative in every karma. Sankhya here means the sastra of jnana-siddhanata — the body of determinate knowledge that establishes ontological distinctions. The jiva is real, Hari is real, and they are eternally distinct; action is the jiva's dependent participation in Hari's sovereign will, not self-generated creation. These five causes reveal the mechanics of that dependence.

    divergence: Madhva's commentary is terse here; the emphasis falls on jiva's real but dependent agency — contra Sankara's non-real jiva and contra Ramanuja's jiva-as-body-of-Brahman.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Vallabha opens with a structural pronouncement: whoever imagines themselves the karta while five actual kartas are present is condemned — both by the world and by Krsna in this sastra. The antaryami Purusa, who acts through His own instruments (body, senses, prana, jiva) with full svantantrya (independence), holds primary kartrtva (agency). The jiva's agentship is real but secondary — it is Brahma-gata kartrtva reflected in the jiva as tad-amsa (portion of That). All karma and its fruit ultimately belong to Purusa Parama; the jiva participates as lila-seva (service in divine play), not self-determined production.

    divergence: Vallabha alone introduces the lila-frame here: the five causes are the anatomy of Krsna's own playful self-expression through the jiva, not a problem to be dissolved.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Sridhara addresses the objection: if one acts, how can karma-phala not accrue? Answer: for one who has abandoned attachment (sanga-tyagi) and false ego (nirahamkara), there is no staining (lepa) by the fruit — and the reason lies in understanding the five causes. Two etymological readings of Sankhya are offered: either 'that sastra in which Paramatman is well known (samyak khyayate)' pointing to Vedanta, or 'that in which truths are enumerated (sankhyayante tattavani)' pointing to the classical Sankhya system. In either reading, these five causes are to be known as the basis for withdrawing the claim of personal authorship over action.

    divergence: Sridhara uniquely offers two lexical derivations of 'Sankhya' side by side, and grounds the entire teaching in the practical soteriological aim of nirahamkara, not primarily in metaphysical doctrine.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Madhusudana identifies the structural function of this verse in the chapter: the samsarin cannot renounce karma because karma is causally multi-rooted (panca-karana); the ajnani who falsely identifies with this five-fold nexus cannot simply stop. The five causes are therefore presented by the sarvajna Paramatman as heya — things to be abandoned through jnana — precisely because they are laukika-siddha (established by ordinary experience) yet mithya (superimposed on the pure atman by avidya). When their superimposed nature is known, karma finds its end (krtanta): jnanotpattya karma nivrttih. Madhusudana adds a devotional note: Krishna calls Arjuna 'Mahabaho' to signal that only a sat-purusa of genuine spiritual strength (bahu-bala) can grasp these profoundly subtle truths.

    divergence: Madhusudana alone ties the five-cause analysis to the bhakta's practical predicament (why can't the embodied one simply stop acting?), combining Sankara's jnana-termination logic with devotional address.

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