Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 15
शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः।न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः।।
śarīra-vāṅ-manobhir yat karma prārabhate naraḥ
nyāyyaṁ vā viparītaṁ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ
also searched as "sharira vang manobhir yat karma prarabhate narah"
Translation
For whatever action a person undertakes with their body, speech, and mind, whether right or wrong, i.e., enjoined or forbidden by the Sastras, the following five are its causes:
Vāṇi's rendering
Whatever a person sets in motion — by body, speech, or mind, rightly or wrongly — these five are behind it.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शरीरवाङ्मनोभिःśarīra-vāṅ-manobhiḥ | by body, by speech, by mind — the three doors an act comes through (appears as manobhir before yat) |
| यत्yat | whatever |
| कर्मkarma | action, deed |
| प्रारभतेprārabhate | begins, sets in motion |
| नरःnaraḥ | a person |
| न्याय्यम्nyāyyam | right, proper, sanctioned |
| वाvā | or |
| विपरीतम्viparītam | the opposite of that — wrong, forbidden |
| वाvā | or |
| पञ्चpañca | five |
| एतेete | these (joined as pañcaite) |
| तस्यtasya | of that action |
| हेतवःhetavaḥ | causes, the factors behind it |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 15 mean?
It means no deed has one author. Whatever you begin — through body, speech or mind, and whether it was right or wrong — rests on five factors working together. Krishna states the principle here and names the five in the verse that follows. The claim I did this is always shorthand.
What does 'sharira vang manobhir yat karma prarabhate narah' teach about action?
That action has three doors, not one. A word spoken and a thought entertained are karma as surely as a hand raised. Krishna refuses to let Arjuna treat speech and mind as private or weightless. Whatever passes through any of the three has been set in motion, and the same five causes stand behind it.
If five causes are behind every action, am I still responsible?
Yes. Krishna is not handing out an alibi — he says right and wrong alike depend on the five. What dissolves is not accountability but authorship, the swollen sense of being the sole cause. You act, you answer for it, and you stop believing the whole weight was ever carried by you alone.
Why does Krishna mention both right and wrong actions here?
Because we accept help gladly for our failures and never for our merits. By saying nyāyyaṁ vā viparītaṁ vā, Krishna closes that escape. The good deed you are quietly proud of came through the same five factors as the one you regret. Neither belongs to you the way you thought.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Krishna is counting. Before he names the five, he widens the field: body, speech, mind — and right or wrong alike, no exemption carved out for the good deed. Arjuna wants to know whether he is the one killing. The answer begins by taking apart the word one. Every act you set in motion arrives through a crowd — the seat of action, the doer's sense, the instruments, the effort, and what the field itself supplies. Nothing here excuses you. It corrects the arithmetic of pride and of guilt, which both assume a single author. Look at what you did yesterday and count the hands.