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18.13Krishna
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पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे ।साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् ॥

pañcaitāni mahābāho kāraṇāni nibodha me |sāṅkhye kṛtānte proktāni siddhaye sarvakarmaṇām ||

पञ्च · pañca
five
एतानि · etāni
these
महाबाहो · mahābāho
O mighty-armed one
कारणानि · kāraṇāni
causes, factors
निबोध · nibodha
learn, understand
मे · me
from me
साङ्ख्ये · sāṅkhye
in the Sankhya teaching
कृतान्ते · kṛtānte
in the doctrine of action's end, the Vedanta
प्रोक्तानि · proktāni
declared
सिद्धये · siddhaye
for the accomplishment

Learn from me, O mighty-armed one, these five factors for the accomplishment of all actions, as declared in the Sankhya teaching.

Original plain-language translation

Krishna now undermines the ego's claim 'I alone did it' by listing five co-causes of every act. The point serves the renunciation theme: if five factors produce each deed, sole authorship — and sole ownership of results — is an illusion. The Sankhya reference roots this in the tradition's analysis of agency.

Reader's notes (original)