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Chapter 18 · Verse 13
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 18, Verse 13

पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे। साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम्॥

pañcaitāni mahābāho kāraṇāni nibodha me | sāṅkhye kṛtānte proktāni siddhaye sarvakarmaṇām ||

Word by Word 11 words
पञ्च
pañca five

five

एतानि
etad this, these

these

महाबाहो
mahā great bāhu arm

O mighty-armed one — Arjuna

कारणानि
kṛ to do, to make) — kāraṇa (cause, factor

causes, factors

निबोध
ni down, fully budh to know, to awaken

learn fully, understand from

मे
mad I, me

from me, my

साङ्ख्ये
saṁ together khyā to count, to reckon) — sāṅkhya (the reckoning, Sankhya teaching

in the Sankhya, the teaching that counts up reality

कृतान्ते
kṛ to do) — kṛta (done anta end) — kṛtānta (the conclusion, the settled doctrine

in the settled conclusion, in the final teaching

प्रोक्तानि
pra forth vac to speak) — prokta (declared

declared, set forth

सिद्धये
sidh to accomplish, to succeed) — siddhi (accomplishment

for the accomplishing, for getting done

सर्वकर्मणाम्
sarva all kṛ to do) — karman (action

of all actions

says, "Listen carefully, mighty , for I will tell you something important." The old wise teaching called , the teaching that counts up what is real, names five things that must come together for any action to get done. Not one of them works alone. In the next verse he will name all five. For now he wants Arjuna to pay close attention, because once you see the five, you stop thinking "I alone did it all," which is where pride begins.

कथा

The Five-Part Lesson

From the mahabharata

Twilight settled over . The great armies had quieted for a moment, and 's voice, steady and warm, was the only sound truly heard.

"Mighty-armed one," said, "let me teach you something the old sages worked out long ago, in the teaching they call — the teaching that counts up the pieces of truth, one by one, like a careful merchant counting coins. They asked a simple question: when something gets done in this world, what makes it happen?"

frowned. "I would say... the person who does it. The doer makes it happen."

smiled. "That is what almost everyone says. 'I did it.' And that small word, 'I,' is a heavy little stone. It puffs a man up when things go well and crushes him when they go badly, because he thinks he alone carried everything."

"Then it is not so?" asked .

"Listen," said . "The sages discovered that no action, not one, is ever done by a single cause. Five things must always come together. Five. Lift away any one of them, and the action falls apart like a wheel with a spoke removed. Tomorrow I will name them for you one by one, so you can count them on your own fingers."

A breeze stirred the chariot's banners. sat very still, the way a student sits when he senses a door about to open.

"Why does this matter, , here, now, with the battle waiting?"

"Because, , when you truly understand that five causes, not your 'I' alone, bring every deed about, something heavy lifts off your chest. You stop boasting after success. You stop drowning in guilt after failure. You become like a clear window the light passes through, rather than a man straining to hold up the whole sky with two tired arms."

let out a slow breath. He had been holding the whole war on his shoulders, certain that every life lost would be his doing alone.

"Tell me the five," he said quietly. "I am listening with my whole mind."

"Then learn them from me," said , and his eyes were kind. "For in knowing these five lies the end of a great and secret burden."

And leaned in, ready, as the first stars pricked the darkening sky above the silent field.

चिन्तनम्

When something good happens, do you ever say 'I did it all by myself'? Can you think of all the helpers and things that had to come together for it to happen?