📿 Shloka Collection

Tatrainam Sati Kartaram

Gita 18.16 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18 — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
तत्रैवं सति कर्तारमात्मानं केवलं तु यः ।
पश्यत्यकृतबुद्धित्वान्न स पश्यति दुर्मतिः ॥
Tatraivam sati kartaram atmanam kevalam tu yah
Pashyaty akritabuddhitvan na sa pashyati durmatih
तत्र एवं सति
this being the case — given these facts
कर्तारम् आत्मानम्
the self as the sole doer
केवलम्
alone — exclusively
अकृतबुद्धित्वात्
due to an untrained intellect — due to immature understanding
न पश्यति
does not truly see — misses reality
दुर्मतिः
of poor understanding — deluded

Given everything just said — that five factors work together in every action — whoever still looks at themselves and thinks 'I alone did this' is seeing through a fog. Krishna calls such a person akritabuddhi (of untrained intellect) and durmati (of poor understanding). These are strong words.

This is the ego's favorite illusion. When a project succeeds, the mind races to claim credit. When a meal turns out well, the cook feels proud. But the Gita asks: what about the ingredients, the stove, your health that day, the recipe someone taught you years ago, and the simple luck that nothing went wrong? You were one factor among five.

Krishna is not diminishing human effort. He is placing it in honest proportion. You matter — but you are not the whole story. Seeing this clearly is the beginning of wisdom. Missing it is what he calls durmatih.

The term 'akritabuddhi' means an intellect that has not been refined or matured. It sees only one dimension of reality and mistakes it for the whole picture.

The next shloka (18.17) delivers the positive counterpart: the person who is free of ego acts fully yet remains untouched by bondage.

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