The items listed above must all come into full play in order to accomplish any work, and therefore, these five component parts are called the causes of all actions. To show that there is no exception, the Lord says that whatever action a man might undertake, be it by his body, speech or mind, and that too whether right or wrong, in every expression of action there is the play of all these five essential parts.

These five constitute the equipment of action, and the Spirit, the eternally Actionless, conditioned by the intellectual desires, behaves AS THOUGH it is an ego (Jiva); and this individualised personality, forgetting its own State-of-Perfection demanding satisfaction through sense gratifications, making use of the faculties of sense-enjoyment, strives in the world-of-objects to achieve, to gain, to aggrandise. Here we should not forget, in our haste, to grasp clearly that the five-fold division is the description of the “engine under the bonnet” and not of the “petrol;” and yet, “petrol” in itself cannot make the travel pleasant and successful — nor can the “engine” move without the “petrol.”

A motor vehicle becomes an automobile only when “petrol” plays through the “engine,” and when the driver can, by his faculties, take the vehicle to its destination, which is determined by the demand or the desire of the owner of the vehicle. If this analogy is understood, we can correctly evaluate this portion of Krishna’s enumeration, and can truly appreciate what the Lord means when he says “these five are the causes” of all work.

ALL THESE ENUMERATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS OF THE LAST TWO STANZAS ADD UP TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE ‘SENSE-OF-AGENCY’ OF THE SELF IS AN ILLUSION:

Yat, whatever; karma, action; narah, a man; prarabhate, performs; with these three-sarira-van-manobhih, with the body, speech and mind; be it nyayyam, just, rigtheous, conforming to the scriptures; va, or; viparitam, its reverse, not conforming to the scriptures, unrighteous; and even such activities like closing the eyes etc. whch are consequent on the fact of living (i.e. instinctive acts)-they also are certainly the result of righteous and unrighteous acts done in earlier lives, and hence they are understood by the very, use of the words ‘just and its reverse’-; tasya, of it, of all activities without exception; ete, these; panca, five, as mentioned; are the hetavah, causes.

Objection: Well, are not the locus etc. the cause of all actions? Why is it said, ‘…performs with the body, speech and mind’?

Reply: This fault does not arise. All actions described as ‘enjoined’ or ‘prohibited’ are mainly based on the three, body etc. Seeing, hearing, etc., which are characteristics of life and are subsidiaries to these (body etc.) [Seeing etc. are accomplished by the eye etc., which are part and parcel of the body etc.] , are divided into three groups and spoken of in, ‘performs with the body,’ etc. Even at the time of reaping the fruits (of actions), they are experienced mainly through these (three). Hence, there is no contradiction with the assertion that the five are the causes.