CH 3, Verse 27

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Chapter 3

Verse 27

 

The constituents of Prakriti perform all actions. He

whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks ’I am the

doer.’

 

PrakRiteH kriyamaaNaani guNaiH karmaaNi sarvashaH /

ahaNkaara-vimuuDh'aatmaa kartaa'ham iti manyate //

 

 

LESSONS FROM BHAGAVAD GITA - 22

As taught by Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji

 

“The constituents of Prakriti perform all actions. He

whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks ’I am the

doer.’”

 

Man’s nature is constituted of three qualities

(Gunas,) Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. He is born with

his nature, which is a mixture of good and bad

tendencies. In some, good tendencies predominate and

in others, the bad ones. These three qualities in

their varying degrees create different type of

desires. These desires dwell in the mind of man and

not in his soul (the Atman.)

 

Real man is the soul and not the mind. The substance

of his mind is his Prakriti or Nature. Therefore,

when the qualities of the mind are acting or coming

into manifestation, the real man, or the Soul dwelling

in the body, is not the doer. The wise man knows this

truth and he never claims that he is the doer of his

actions. But those who are deluded think that they

are the doers. The nature of the mind-stuff gets

energized in the presence of the soul and starts

acting, as pieces of iron move in the presence of

magnet. The soul, like the magnet, remains

actionless. So the real man does not work. It is his

nature that works or expresses itself into action.

 

This teaching also serves to indicate that the whole

universe is a product of its nature constituted of the

three Gunas (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas) and likewise,

the human organism is also a product of nature. So

the activities of the human organism, that is, body,

senses and the mind are in nature and a man cannot

claim them as his own. The air that he breathes comes

from nature and it does not belong to him. In the

same way, the heat and the water in his body also

belong to nature. The food that he eats comes from

nature. The food transforms itself into blood in his

body. So his blood also belongs to nature.

 

Therefore, the activities of his body, senses and the

mind, he cannot claim as his own. The wise man knows

this truth. He identifies himself with his Soul and

not with his body and so he never says that he is the

doer of actions.

 

 

 

 

 

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