न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः ।
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ |
na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ svabhāvas tu pravartate ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 5.14)
“The Lord creates neither the doership, nor the actions, nor the connection with the results of actions of a person. Rather, the disposition (svabhāva) [of a person] prompts [these].”
Commentary
nanu ca yadi jīvasya vastutaḥ kartṛtvādikaṁ naivāsti, tarhi parameśvara-sṛṣṭe jagati sarvatra jīvasya kartṛtva-bhokṛtvādi-darśanān manye parameśareṇaiva balāt tasya kartṛtvādikaṁ sṛṣṭam | tathā sati tasmin vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye prasakte, tatra na hi nahīty āha na kartṛtvam iti | nāpi tat-kartṛtvena karmāṇy api, na ca karma-phalair bhogaiḥ saṁyogam api, kintu jīvasya svabhāvo’nādy-avidyaiva pravartate taṁ jīvaṁ kartṛtvādy-abhimānam ārohayitum iti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā)
“[An objection is raised:] ‘Well, if the jīva actually has no doership and forth, then on account of observation of [the existence of] the jīva’s doership (kartṛtva), experiencership (bhoktṛtva), and so forth everywhere through the universe emanated by the Supreme Īśvara, I think that his [i.e., the jīva’s] doership and so forth has been emanated by force by the Supreme Īśvara alone [since it would otherwise not exist], and if this is the case, then there is an occurrence of the possibility of partiality and cruelty in him [i.e., in Īśvara].’ To this, he [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] says, ‘Not so, not so:’ na kartṛtvam … [“The Lord creates neither the doership of the jīva,] Nor the actions [of the jīva] by means of that doership, nor the [jīvas’] connection with the results, that is, the experiences, of those actions. Rather, the disposition (svabhāva) of the jīva, that is, specifically, beginningless ignorance (avidyā), prompts him, the jīva, to take up the conceit (abhimāna) of doership and so forth. This is the purport.”