Sanskrit
पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे । साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् ॥ १३ ॥
pañcaitāni mahābāho kāraṇāni nibodha me sāṅkhye kṛtānte proktāni siddhaye sarvakarmaṇām
Translation
These five causes, O mighty-armed, learn of Me as declared in the Sankhya system for the accomplishment of all actions:
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna pivots from ethics to metaphysics, invoking Samkhya cosmology to name five causal factors behind every action — spelled out over the next two verses. Naming this system explicitly, rather than just alluding to it as chapter 2 does, grounds what’s about to become an argument against believing the self is the sole author of anything it does.
Concepts