Results arise from visible and invisible factors.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् |विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ||१८-१४||
adhiṣṭhānaṃ tathā kartā karaṇaṃ ca pṛthagvidham . vividhāśca pṛthakceṣṭā daivaṃ caivātra pañcamam ||18-14||
Use this verse as a project and karma review framework.
Meaning
The body or field, the doer, the various instruments, different kinds of effort, and the divine factor are the fifth cause.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Action depends on body, doer, instruments, efforts, and the divine factor.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna lists the five causes. This gives a powerful action-analysis framework: context, agent, tools, effort, and grace or unseen conditions.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna enumerates the five factors precisely. They are adhishthana (the body as the seat of action), karta (the individual ego-agent), karana (the various sense-instruments), the manifold cheshta (the body's diverse activities and life-energies), and daiva (the divine or providential element beyond human control).
Notice that the personal doer is only one of five — and even that doer is conditioned, not sovereign. The fifth factor, daivam, openly acknowledges grace and forces beyond our reckoning. Seen this way, no single action is ever the achievement of the ego alone; every deed is a confluence of many causes, most of which we neither created nor command.
In daily life
Plan well, use tools well, make effort, and remember grace.
A product release needs the right environment, team, technology, coordinated effort, and timing beyond control.
Try this today
Review one project through the five causes.
I honor effort and grace together.Reflect
Which of the five causes needs attention in my current task?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘अधिष्ठानं’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on sankhya, in other chapters
- Verse 13.6Even your ego and intellect are parts of the observable field, not the awareness that watches them.
- Verse 7.26The Infinite cannot be captured by the measuring mind — it is known only through grace and surrender, never as an object.
- Verse 11.48No effort or ritual alone can compel the highest vision; it is finally a gift of grace beyond all technique.
- Verse 2.39Bridge the gap between knowing and being by taking your spiritual understanding into actual practice — theory becomes liberating only when it is lived.
Swipe left for 18.15 · Even mental and verbal actions have causes.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 18.14
Who says Bhagavad Gita 18.14, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 18.14, in Chapter 18, Moksha Sannyas Yoga (Moksha Sannyas Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 18.14 mean?
The body or field, the doer, the various instruments, different kinds of effort, and the divine factor are the fifth cause. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 18.14 for daily life?
Plan well, use tools well, make effort, and remember grace. A product release needs the right environment, team, technology, coordinated effort, and timing beyond control.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 18.14 mean?
अधिष्ठानं — the seat / the body as basis; तथा कर्ता — and the doer / agent; करणं च — and the instruments (senses); पृथग्विधम् — of various kinds; विविधाः च — and the manifold.
Where does verse 18.14 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 14 of 78 in Chapter 18, Moksha Sannyas Yoga. The next verse is 18.15.