237. Causes of Karma
K rishna declared that it is impossible to give up activities; instead, a tyagi relinquishes the fruits of their actions (18.11). He elaborates on karma and says, “The seat, karta (doer), various instruments, divergent functions and daivam (divinity) are the five causes for accomplishment of all actions. Whatever action a man performs by body, speech or mind, whether right or wrong, these five are its causes. One of lower intellect, viewing through a poor understanding thinks of the ‘self’ alone as doer, he sees not” (18.13, 18.14, 18.15 and 18.16). The seat is translated as the human body in our context and without the body, we cannot perform any karma . As far as karta is concerned, clarity has been given on many occasions that three gunas are the real karta for all actions. The nature and type of instruments change with time, like the invention of wheel, machines, cars, airplane, computers etc. Existence offers various activities using these instruments. Daivam or interv...