Krishna declared that it is impossible to give up activities, instead a ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐๐ relinquishes the fruits of their actions (18.11). He elaborates about ๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ and says, "The seat, ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ (doer), various instruments, divergent functions and ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ข (divinity) are the five causes for accomplishment of all actions. Whatever action a man performs by body, speech and mind, whether right or wrong, these five are its causes. One of lower intellect viewing through a poor understanding thinks of 'self' alone as doer, he sees not" (18.13 to 18.16).
The seat is translated as the human body in our context and without the body we can't do any ๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐. As far as ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ is concerned, clarity was given on many occasions that three ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐จ are the real ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ for all actions. The nature and type of instruments change with time like the invention of car, plane etc. Existence offers various activities using these instruments.
๐ฟ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ข or intervention of divine force is the fifth cause of ๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐. This is certainly a mysterious cause which is beyond the comprehension of our senses. ๐ฟ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ข is the reason that ๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐๐จ performed in similar circumstances yield different results creating confusion.
Krishna says, "Those who are free from ๐๐๐๐ข-๐ ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ (egoistic) notion and with pure intellect, even by killing these people he kills not" (18.17). Earlier also Krishna told Arjun to fight by maintaining a balance between polarities (2.38). Together, these verses create uneasiness in us preventing us from realising the deeper meaning.
It is an existential truth that every birth is followed by death. While birth is welcomed death is treated with contempt, more so depending on the nature and manner of death. These verses exhort us to go beyond the polarities of life and death. They can also be taken as foundational verses to transition from a life of ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ to ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ (witness).
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