Original Bhagavad Gita As It Is--Click Here for the home page
Chapter 18. Conclusion--The Perfection of Renunciation

TEXT 15

sarira-van-manobhir yat
karma prarabhate narah
nyayyam va viparitam va
pancaite tasya hetavah

SYNONYMS

sarira--body; vak--speech; manobhih--by the mind; yat--anything; karma--work; prarabhate--begins; narah--a person; nyayyam--right; va--or; viparitam--the opposite; va--or; panca--five; ete--all these; tasya--its; hetavah--causes. 

TRANSLATION

Whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind or speech is caused by these five factors.

PURPORT

The words "right" and "wrong" are very significant in this verse. Right work is work done in terms of the prescribed directions in the scriptures, and wrong work is work done against the principles of the scriptural injunctions. But whatever is done requires these five factors for its complete performance.

Previous VerseChapter IndexNext Verse