Who is the actual doer according to the Gita?

From Sushant Kulkarni

Krishna says in the Gita: “Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities.” (2.47)
If we are not the cause of the fruit of our work then what is the cause of the fruit of our work? Is it only the material nature as mentioned in the verse 5.14, or is it all the five factors of action collectively as mentioned in the verse 18.14?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Question from Sushant Kulkarni Prabhu.
Who exactly is the doer according to the Bhagavad Gita? First, the Bhagavad Gita says in 2.47 that you do not consider yourself to be the doer. Ma karma phala he tur bhur. Then in the fifth chapter, 14th verse, Krishna says that material nature is the doer.
And then later on in the 18th chapter, 14th verse, Krishna talks about the five factors of action. So, who exactly is the doer? Answer. The illusion is to think that there is only one particular doer.
Every action is a combination of multiple factors. And essentially, those factors are three. Jeev, Jagat and Jangam.
Jeev is consciousness, the soul. Jagat is material nature. And Jagdish is the controller of both, supreme lord.
So, now, we will see that there are different verses in the Gita which talk up, which emphasize each of these. So, and there are also verses which de-emphasize each of these. For example, now, if we start with the soul.
In 3.27, Krishna says that one of the things I am the doer is a fool. So, one of the things that I am the doer is a fool, Krishna says. But then the Bhagavad Gita concludes with a call for Arjuna to do something.
Vimbrishshaitadasheshena yathech chitta kuru, do. Oh Arjuna, do as you decide, as you decide, according to your deliberation. And then Krishna, Arjuna also says in 18.73, I will do your works.
So, this statement seems to indicate that we are the doers and we are expected to be the doers. Then Krishna also says, as far as material nature is concerned, Krishna says that. So, in 18.59 and 18.60, he says that, if you, that material nature will engage and we are all bound by our material nature to act in particular ways.
And here he seems to say that material nature is the doer, as of course, 3.27 also. But then, there are also verses which indicate that Krishna is the ultimate sanctioner. So, 9.10, 13.22, these verses seem to indicate that Krishna is the ultimate doer.
So, what exactly is the understanding now? So, these three all have to cooperate or have to work together. So, to summarize in a short way, the Jiva desires, the Paramatma, the Ishwara sanctions and the material nature, Prakriti executes. So, for example, right now, I desire to speak.
That is Jiva’s desire. But I have no idea of how all the complex mechanisms takes place in my wise box, how the particular sound comes out. Those who try to do speech synthesis on computer know how complex speech production is.
And that is only speech production. But we are doing not only speech production, sound production, speech production, but also we are conveying specific and intricate meanings to the speech production. And we are doing it through, along with conveying emotions also.
So, it is a very complex process. So, as far as the nitty-gritties of the process are concerned, I do not know. Sometimes I want to speak, I am just not able to speak because my throat is sore.
Or sometimes I want to speak, I may not be able to recollect things. So, now the point here is two things. I desire, and then after that, depending on my karma, Krishna will give us remembrance.
And that remembrance comprise the sanction. And then when the sanction is there, then Krishna instructs material nature. Now execute.
Okay, this person wants to speak, let this person speak. So, and then we are able to speak. So, the jiva desires, Ishwara sanctions and prakriti executes.
And this is how action is done. So, now 18.16, Krishna says that to think oneself to be the only doer, one who thinks that I am the only doer, that is an illusion. And that is an illusion that has to be countered, that has to be abandoned.
And that is the illusion that is condemned in 3.27, when Krishna says prakriti kriyamanadi. So, the Bhagavad Gita urges us to take responsibility for our actions. That means now we are all impelled by material nature, and we cannot give up the limitation that is caused by material nature on our actions.
So, at a grossest level, I may want to fly like a bird in the sky, but I obviously cannot do that. That is one limitation. Beyond that, there is also a further limitation that although I have a human body, and in the human body, there are many things which can be done, but I do not have the talent to do all of them.
A brahmana cannot do physical work like a shudra, and a shudra cannot do intellectual work like a brahmana. There are limitations. So, one has to recognize those limitations.
At the same time, a brahmana can be a virtuous brahmana, or a brahmana can become a vicious brahmana. By brahmana, I mean a person with a brahmanical, psychophysical nature. So, when Krishna is saying swabhava jena kaunteya nibaddhasven karuna, we’ll have to act according to our nature, that is referring basically that we cannot abandon our nature entirely.
But within the limitation that is focused on nature, we can go towards dharma, or we can go towards adharma. And we need to focus on going towards dharma. So, that is the initiative that we can take.
So, Arjuna as a kshatriya cannot suddenly start acting as a brahmana. But as a kshatriya, he can act as a protector, or he can act as a, as Duryodhana was doing, he was acting as an exploiter, unfortunately. So, that choice is there for everyone.
And we cannot say that by my nature, I am impelled to be lusty, greedy, angry, and that’s why I can’t care for dharma, that’s my nature. That sort of thing is, Krishna says in 3.36, 3.34, 3.35, 3.36, when he talks about this, he says that, although there is regulation within the body, indriyasya indriyasya arte ragad desho vyavasthato tayor navasya maagacche, tau yasya paripanthino, that there is attachment and aversion that is there in the senses and sense objects, but do not succumb to them. Do not succumb to them means regulate that according to the principles of dharma.
Otherwise, they will be obstacles, they will be thieves on the path. So, the broad understanding is that we have got a particular body and mind, so that will limit the kind of activities that we can do. But within that limitation, within a brahmanical nature or kshatriya nature or whatever the particular nature of persons may be, there is within that limitation, one has the capacity for variation.
That means one can act dharmically or one can act adharmically. The whole idea is one should learn to act positively, adharmically. And for that, one has to recognize that I, when I am good at doing certain activities, say for example, if I can remember and I can speak based on scripture, if I start thinking that I am the doer, then I will become, I will be, go under illusion because yes, this is, I am one of the factors who is contributing to this action, but I am, but the body is the facility.
Without this facility, I would not be able to do this. By body, I refer to body and mind. And a super soul, even when I have a brahmanical body and even when I have desire to explain shastra, without the Supreme Lord’s action, I won’t be able to do it again.
So, therefore, the injunction that one who thinks I am the doer is an illusion that is meant to bring about humility, recognizing that we are not the only doers. On the other hand, the injunction that you have to act, Arjuna, that’s 18.73, that is given to bring about responsibility. That is to tell that it is for you to, you cannot just act according to the impulses of the mind and senses.
You have to take responsibility and act responsibly. And that is the message of the Bhagavad Gita when it urges Arjuna to deliberate a responsible action. So, that means we are the doers, but the illusion is to think that we are the only doers.
Now, in the 18.55, 18.40, when five actors are talked about, there is described that adhishthana is the sphere of action, that can be the body or surround, circumstances like that. So, that is a part of material nature. Karta, the soul is the that is the jiva.
Then karanam, karanam is the senses, which are again a part of material nature. And then prathak cheshta, the various endeavors, they are also part of the soul. The soul can decide how long I will endeavor or how quickly I’ll abandon.
That’s a part of soul. And then there is daiva, that is the super soul. So, these five factors of action can be reduced to the three, which we discussed earlier, jiva, prakriti and ishvara.
So, all three work together for bringing about success in action. Thank you. Hare Krishna.