3.27 I am the doer Krishna speaks
प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताऽहमिति मन्यते
prakṛiteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśhaḥ
ahankāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
All actions are carried out by the strands of nature. But one deluded by the sense of self thinks: I am the doer.
Explanation
The doer am I.
kartā aham iti. The verse names the specific error, and it is not acting — it is the claim of authorship.
Nature's strands carry out the actions; the sense of self inserts a proprietor. Chapters 5, 13 and 14 all restate this, and each time the mistake is located in the same place.
Going further
Word by word
- prakṛiteḥ
- of material nature
- kriyamāṇāni
- carried out
- guṇaiḥ
- by the three modes
- karmāṇi
- activities
- sarvaśhaḥ
- all kinds of
- ahankāra-vimūḍha-ātmā
- those who are bewildered by the ego and misidentify themselves with the body
- kartā
- the doer
- aham
- I
- iti
- thus
- manyate
- thinks
Long-press or right-click the image to copy it. Nothing is uploaded — it is drawn here, on your device.
Kartā aham iti — the doer am I.
The verse names the specific error: not acting, but the claim of authorship. Nature's strands carry out the work, and something in us steps forward to sign it.
This is worth holding beside 2.47. If the fruit was never yours, it is because the doing was never quite yours either.