Verse 18.14
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् | विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ||१४||
Transliteration (IAST)
adhiṣṭhānaṁ tathā kartā karaṇaṁ ca pṛthag-vidham | vividhāś ca pṛthak ceṣṭā daivaṁ caivātra pañcamam ||14||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
The body (seat of action), the doer, the various senses, the many different functions, and the presiding deity (destiny) as the fifth - these are the five factors.
Commentary
Krishna enumerates the five factors: adhiṣṭhāna (the body), kartā (the ego-self as agent), karaṇa (the sense organs and mind), ceṣṭā (the vital functions/prāṇa), and daiva (the presiding deities or fate). Shankaracharya explains that no action can occur without all five cooperating, proving that the individual self alone is not the doer. Madhva interprets daiva as God's will operating through destiny.