Verse 18.15
शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः ।
न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ॥
Transliteration
śarīravāṅmanobhiryatkarma prārabhate naraḥ |
nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ ||
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3
Translation
Whatever action a man performs with his body, speech and mind whether right or the reverse these five are its causes.
From the owner's sheet · +1 more
Whatever action a person undertakes with body, speech or mind, whether right or the reverse, these five are its causes.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08 · +1 more
Word by word
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08
Explanation
Krishna applies the list universally. Whatever a person begins to do with body, speech or mind, whether the act is right or wrong, these five are its causes. The point is not to remove responsibility but to show that action arises from a combination of factors. This prepares for the next verse, which warns against the narrow view that the individual alone is the whole cause of what happens.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08