Complete learning edition. The Sanskrit source remains separate from attributed word meanings, translation, explanation and commentary witnesses. Diagrams and memory aids are study tools, not replacements for the source text.
न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः। न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते।।5.14।।
na kartṛitvaṁ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛijati prabhuḥ na karma-phala-saṅyogaṁ svabhāvas tu pravartate
The Lord of this universe has not ordained activity, nor any incentive thereto, nor any relation between an act and its consequences; all this is the work of Nature.
English rendering by Shri Purohit Swami. Each source voice remains named.
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Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.
| Sanskrit form | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| na | neither |
| kartṛitvam | sense of doership |
| na | nor |
| karmāṇi | actions |
| lokasya | of the people |
| sṛijati | creates |
| prabhuḥ | God |
| na | nor |
| karma-phala | fruits of actions |
| sanyogam | connection |
| svabhāvaḥ | one’s nature |
| tu | but |
| pravartate | is enacted |
The Lord does not create agency or doership. He does not press anyone to do actions.
Attributed explanatory witness: Swami Sivananda. Chapter lens: Compare renunciation of work with renunciation of attachment and examine the chapter’s account of inner freedom.
Three named reading witnesses
Śaṅkara edition witness
Swami GambiranandaThe Self does not create agency or any objects of desire for anyone, nor does it associate with the results of actions; rather, it is Nature that acts.
Rāmānuja edition witness
Swami AdidevanandaThe Lord of the body (the Self, i.e., the Jiva) does not create agency, nor actions, nor union with the fruits of actions in relation to the world of selves; only the inherent tendencies function.
Sivananda commentary witness
Swami SivanandaThe Lord does not create agency or doership. He does not press anyone to do actions.
These are concise, attributed reading witnesses from identified editions. They are presented for comparison and are not merged into one anonymous interpretation.
Meaning map
Follow the thought
- 1
The Lord of this universe has not ordained activity, nor any incentive thereto, nor any relation between an act and its consequences
- 2
all this is the work of Nature
- 3
na: neither
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Compare renunciation of work with renunciation of attachment and examine the chapter’s account of inner freedom.
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Three questions for this verse
- 1
What is renounced?
- 2
What action continues?
- 3
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