Yathora

The Gita · Chapter 18

Bhagavad Gita 18.14

अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम्।विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम्॥

adhiṣhṭhānaṁ tathā kartā karaṇaṁ cha pṛithag-vidham vividhāśh cha pṛithak cheṣhṭā daivaṁ chaivātra pañchamam

Translation

The body, the actor, the various organs, the diverse kinds of energies, and the presiding deities also, the fifth.

What it means

The body, the doer, the various organs, the many kinds of effort, and the presiding divinities as the fifth - the gods by whose aid the organs function. Five contributors to every act; even the doer is only one factor among five.

Try this today

The five listed: instrument, agent, tools, operations, and the sanctioning power.

Something to reflect on

Which factor beyond me - tools, timing, sanction - did my last achievement require?

Read it in Yathora
← 18.1318.15 →

Translation by Annie Besant (1905, public domain). The meanings are original to Yathora, drawn from Shankara’s commentary.