📿 Shloka Collection

Adhishthanam Tatha Karta

Gita 18.14 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18 — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् ।
विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ॥
Adhishthanam tatha karta karanam cha prithagvidham
Vividhashcha prithak cheshta daivam chaivatra panchamam
अधिष्ठानम्
the seat of action — the body
कर्ता
the doer — the individual soul
करणम्
the instruments — the senses
पृथग्विधम्
of various kinds
चेष्टाः
efforts — exertions
दैवम्
the divine — fate, divine will
पञ्चमम्
the fifth

Here they are, the five factors. First: adhishthana, the body — the physical seat where action takes place. Second: the karta, the doer, the individual who initiates. Third: the karana, the instruments — eyes, ears, hands, mind, the various senses that carry out the task. Fourth: the cheshta, the different kinds of effort — muscular, mental, verbal. And fifth: daiva, the unseen hand of divine will or destiny.

Consider a potter shaping a vessel. The wheel and workspace are the adhishthana. The potter is the karta. The hands and eyes are the karana. The pressing, turning, and smoothing are the cheshta. And then there is something the potter cannot fully control — whether the clay cooperates, whether the kiln holds, whether the finished pot reaches the right buyer. That fifth factor is daiva.

Once you see action this way, the claim 'I did it all by myself' becomes harder to hold. You contributed — yes. But four other forces were working alongside you.

The fifth factor, daiva (divine will), is the most subtle. Different commentators have understood it as God's providence, the accumulated imprint of past lives, or the force of time and circumstance.

These five factors will be referenced in the next shloka (18.15) to make a point about the misattribution of doership.

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