18.14 The doer is one of five Krishna speaks
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम्
विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम्
adhiṣhṭhānaṁ tathā kartā karaṇaṁ cha pṛithag-vidham
vividhāśh cha pṛithak cheṣhṭā daivaṁ chaivātra pañchamam
the place, the doer, the various instruments, the many kinds of movement, and fate as the fifth.
Explanation
And the doer is one of five.
- the place
- the doer
- the instruments
- the many kinds of movement
- fate
Listed second, between the location and the tools. Everything the Gita has said about non-doership is compressed into that placement: the self is an item on the list, not the author of it.
Going further
Word by word
- adhiṣhṭhānam
- the body
- tathā
- also
- kartā
- the doer (soul)
- karaṇam
- senses
- cha
- and
- pṛithak-vidham
- various kinds
- vividhāḥ
- many
- cha
- and
- pṛithak
- distinct
- cheṣhṭāḥ
- efforts
- daivam
- Divine Providence
- cha eva atra
- these certainly are (causes)
- pañchamam
- the fifth
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Five causes of any action: the place, the doer, the instruments, the movements, and fate.
The doer is one of five, listed third, between the tools and the circumstances. It is the chapter's quiet dismantling of authorship — not by denying that you act, but by putting your part in proportion.