Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 3, Verse 27
प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः।
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताऽहमिति मन्यते।।
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताऽहमिति मन्यते।।
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahankāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
also searched as "prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvashah"
Translation
Actions are being performed in every way by the Gunas of Prakrti; he whose nature is deluded by egoism, however, thinks, 'I am the doer.'
Vāṇi's rendering
Nature's forces do all the doing. Fooled by ego, a man thinks: I am the doer.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| प्रकृतेःprakṛteḥ | of nature, of the material world |
| क्रियमाणानिkriyamāṇāni | are being done, being carried out |
| गुणैःguṇaiḥ | by the forces, the strands that make up nature |
| कर्माणिkarmāṇi | actions, deeds |
| सर्वशःsarvaśaḥ | in every way, all of them without exception |
| अहङ्कार-विमूढ-आत्माahaṅkāra-vimūḍha-ātmā | one whose self is fooled by the I-maker, the ego |
| कर्ताkartā | the doer (joined with aham by sandhi) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| इतिiti | thus, in these words |
| मन्यतेmanyate | thinks, holds the opinion |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 27 mean?
It means the doing is nature's, and the claim is yours. The guṇas — the forces that make up body, mind and appetite — carry out every action. The ego steps in after the fact and says I did that. Krishna is not denying the action. He is questioning the owner who appears once it is finished.
What does prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvashah teach?
That there is no action anywhere that nature is not performing. Sarvaśaḥ — in every way, all of them. Hunger, speech, courage, the hand that lifts the bow: all of it moves by forces you did not install and cannot stop. What you can see through is the small voice afterward, calling it mine.
If nature does everything, am I responsible for what I do?
Krishna never releases Arjuna from acting; the whole chapter insists on work. What this verse removes is the swollen sense of authorship, not accountability. You still stand where you stand and answer for it. But you stop imagining you are the engine of the world. Responsibility remains; the burden of being the source falls away.
How do I stop feeling like I am the doer?
Not by arguing with the feeling, but by watching its timing. The breath happens, then the thought I am breathing. The word forms, then the claim I said it. Sit with any ordinary act today and notice that the doing came first and the doer came late. That noticing loosens more than effort ever does.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Watch a wave and ask which part of it is doing the rising. Krishna takes doership out of the man and puts it back where it happens — in nature's own forces, moving as they move: digesting, breathing, wanting, striking. The ego does not create the action; it arrives afterward and signs its name. Arjuna believes he will be the killer of his kinsmen. Krishna says the forces will do what forces do; only the signature is his invention. This is not permission to drift. It is a correction of accounting. Watch the next thing you do, and notice how late the word I arrives.