Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 27

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः । अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ | ahaṅkāravimūḍhātmā kartāhamiti manyate

Translation

Actions are wrought in all cases by the energies of Nature. He whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks 'I am the doer.'

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

prakṛteḥ

of nature

kriyamāṇāni

being performed

guṇaiḥ

by the qualities

karmāṇi

actions

sarvaśaḥ

everywhere

ahaṅkāravimūḍhātmā

by egoism, deluded, self, whose, he

kartā

the doer

aham

I

iti

thus

manyate

thinks

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Nature (Prakṛti, Pradhāna) is the equipoised state of the three guṇas — sattva, rajas, tamas. It is by the guṇas, manifesting themselves as the body and the senses, that all our actions are done. The man whose mind is variously deluded by ahaṃkāra — by egoism identifying the aggregate of the body and the senses with the Self — sees actions in himself: as regards every action, he thinks "I am the doer."