प्रकृते: क्रियमाणानि गुणै: कर्माणि सर्वश: |
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते || 27||
prakṛiteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśhaḥ
ahankāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
prakṛiteḥ—of material nature; kriyamāṇāni—carried out; guṇaiḥ—by the three modes; karmāṇi—activities; sarvaśhaḥ—all kinds of; ahankāra-vimūḍha-ātmā—those who are bewildered by the ego and misidentify themselves with the body; kartā—the doer; aham—I; iti—thus; manyate—thinks
Translation:
By the qualities of nature, actions are performed in all cases, but one whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks “I am the doer”.
Commentary:
The Lord explains how the action takes place. Action takes place by the power of the qualities of nature. Those qualities are – Satva, Rajas, and Tamas. They are called the three Gunas. These qualities of nature are modified into the four elements – manas, buddhi, chitta, ahamkara, the five subtle elements, the five organs of action, the five organs of perception, and the five objects of the senses. Thus the human organism and the universe around are the product of Nature. All actions wherever and in whatever manner they take place are actually done by the power of the three gunas. Atma remains as the eternal uncontaminated witness. The real man is Atma. It is the witness of the body, the internal and external organs, and the modifications of the mind. In truth, the real man is not the doer. All the actions that man apparently performs with his physical and subtle organs is the work of Nature, and not of the man himself in his real Being. But the deluded man having identified himself with the body thinks “I am the doer,” and so thinking he burdens himself with the responsibility for all of them. Consequently, he has to pass through several births and suffer endless pain and sorrow.
This is exactly the difference between the wise and the ignorant. The ignorant man imagines himself to be the body and thinks that he is the doer, enjoyer of all actions and the fruits thereof. The wise man seprates himself from the vehicle of the body and knows that he is the Self, that he is not the doer nor is he subject to the binding power of his actions.
Joy and sorrow depend upon the idea of doership. If you think you are the body, you have to bear pain and grief and all the innumerable ills of life. If you think you are the Self, you are at the source of all bliss. So let the seeker discriminate between the Self and the non-Self, and know his real nature. Then all that he does is sublimated into the Self and remains unaffected.
The secret of Karma Yoga is to understand the law how actions are performed and with what power they are performed. The Lord makes it clear that the cause of action is Nature functioning through the three gunas.
One whose mind is deluded by egoism: The ignorant man is deluded by his ego and considers that he is doing this and that and all the thousand actions of bodily life. Identification with the body “Dehatma Buddhi” is the root cause of delusion. Such a man is called Vimudhatma. The wise man knows that he is the blissful and blessed Brahman.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
“Therefore, Arjuna, all these actions are in nature. Nature … is working out her own laws in our bodies and minds. We identify ourselves with nature and say, ‘I am doing this.’ This way delusion seizes us.” We always act under some compulsion. When hunger compels me, I eat. And suffering is still worse — slavery. That real “I” is eternally free. What can compel it to do anything? The sufferer is in nature. It is only when we identify ourselves with the body that we say, “I am suffering; I am Mr. So-and-so” — all such nonsense. But he who has known the truth, holds himself aloof. Whatever his body does, whatever his mind does, he does not care. But mind you, the vast majority of mankind are under this delusion; and whenever they do any good, they feel that they are [the doers].[Source]
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
“Do you know my attitude? As for myself, I eat, drink, and live happily. The rest the Divine Mother knows. Indeed, there are three words that prick my flesh: ‘guru’, ‘master’, and ‘father’.
“There is only one Guru, and that is Satchidananda. He alone is the Teacher. My attitude toward God is that of a child toward its mother. One can get human gurus by the million. All want to be teachers. But who cares to be a disciple?
“It is extremely difficult to teach others. A man can teach only if God reveals Himself to him and gives the command. Narada, Sukadeva, and sages like them had such a command from God, and Sankara had it too. Unless you have a command from God, who will listen to your words? …..
“God does reveal Himself to man and speak. Only then may one receive His command. How forceful are the words of such a teacher! They can move mountains. But mere lectures? People will listen to them for a few days and then forget them. They will never act upon mere words.
“At Kamarpukur there is a small lake called the Haldarpukur. Certain people used to befoul its banks every day. Others who came there in the morning to bathe would abuse the offenders loudly. But next morning they would find the same thing. The nuisance didn’t stop. (All laugh.) The villagers finally informed the authorities about it. A constable was sent, who put up a notice on the bank which read: ‘Commit no nuisance.’ This stopped the miscreants at once. (All laugh.)
“To teach others, one must have a badge of authority; otherwise teaching becomes a mockery. A man who is himself ignorant starts out to teach others — like the blind leading the blind! Instead of doing good, such , teaching does harm. After the realisation of God one obtains an inner vision. Only then can one diagnose a person’s spiritual malady and give instruction.
“Without the commission from God, a man becomes vain. He says to himself, ‘I am teaching people.’ This vanity comes from ignorance, for only an ignorant person feels that he is the doer. A man verily becomes liberated in life if he feels: ‘God is the Doer. He alone is doing everything. I am doing nothing.’ Man’s sufferings and worries spring only from his persistent thought that he is the doer. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
VIJAY: “Sir, why are we bound like this? Why don’t we see God?”
MASTER: “Maya is nothing but the egotism of the embodied soul. This egotism has covered everything like a veil. ‘All troubles come to an end when the ego dies.’ If by the grace of God a man but once realises that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a jivanmukta. Though living in the body, he is liberated. He has nothing else to fear.
“This maya, that is to say, the ego, is like a cloud. The sun cannot be seen on account of a thin patch of cloud; when that disappears one sees the sun. If by the grace of the guru one’s ego vanishes, then one sees God.
“Rama, who is God Himself, was only two and a half cubits ahead of Lakshmana. But Lakshmana couldn’t see Him because Sita stood between them. Lakshmana may be compared to the jiva, and Sita to maya. Man cannot see God on account of the barrier of maya. Just look: I am creating a barrier in front of my face with this towel. Now you can’t see me, even though I am so near. Likewise, God is the nearest of all, but we cannot see Him on account of this covering of maya.
“The jiva is nothing but the embodiment of Satchidananda. But since maya, or ego, has created various upadhis, he has forgotten his real Self.
“Each upadhi changes man’s nature. If he wears a fine black-bordered cloth, you will at once find him humming Nidhu Babu’s love-songs. Then playing-cards and a walking-stick follow. If even a sickly man puts on high boots, he begins to whistle and climbs the stairs like an Englishman, jumping from one step to another. If a man but holds a pen in his hand, he scribbles on any paper he can get hold of — such is the power of the pen!
“Money is also a great upadhi. The possession of money makes such a difference in a man! He is no longer the same person. ……
“A frog had a rupee, which he kept in his hole. One day an elephant was going over the hole, and the frog, coming out in a fit of anger, raised his foot, as if to kick the elephant, and said, ‘How dare you walk over my head?’ Such is the pride that money begets!
“One can get rid of the ego after the attainment of Knowledge. On attaining Knowledge one goes into samadhi, and the ego disappears. But it is very difficult to obtain such Knowledge. ……
“Once a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. No sooner did it enter the water than it melted. Now who could tell how deep the ocean was? That which could have told about its depth had melted. Reaching the seventh plane, the mind is annihilated; man goes into samadhi. What he feels then cannot be described in words. ……
“It is true that one or two can get rid of the ‘I’ through samadhi; but these cases are very rare. You may indulge in thousands of reasonings, but still the ‘I’ comes back. You may cut the peepal-tree to the very root today, but you will notice a sprout springing up tomorrow. Therefore if the ‘I’ must remain, let the rascal remain as the ‘servant I’. As long as you live, you should say, ‘O God, Thou art the Master and I am Thy servant.’ The ‘I’ that feels, ‘I am the servant of God, I am His devotee’ does not injure one. Sweet things cause acidity of the stomach, no doubt, but sugar candy is an exception.
“The path of knowledge is very difficult. One cannot obtain Knowledge unless one gets rid of the feeling that one is the body. In the Kaliyuga the life of man is centred on food. He cannot get rid of the feeling that he is the body. and the ego. Therefore the path of devotion is prescribed for this cycle. This is an easy path. You will attain God if you sing His name and glories and pray to Him with a longing heart. There is not the least doubt about it.
“Suppose you draw a line on the surface of water with a bamboo stick. The water appears to be divided into two parts; but the line doesn’t remain for any length of time. The ‘servant I’ or the ‘devotee I’ or the ‘child I’ is only a line drawn with the ego and is not real.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Question: How are actions performed?
Answer: They are performed by the three gunas born of nature.
Question: What does the ignorant man think?
Answer: He identifies himself with the gunas and thinks that he is the doer.
Question: What is the effect?
Answer: He is bound by the wheel of birth and death. So man should know that he is the blissful Self and not the body.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 3 
(43 Verses)
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