Bhagavad Gita 18.14: meaning and translation
Chapter 18: Moksha Sannyasa Yoga. Krishna says
Krishna names the five: the seat (the body), the doer, the various instruments (the senses), the many different movements, and daiva, the divine factor, as the fifth.
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Bhagavad Gita 18.14
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् ।विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ॥
Adhishthanam tatha karta karanam cha prithagvidhamVividhashcha prithakcheshta daivam chaivatra panchamam
adhiṣṭhānaṃ tathā kartā karaṇaṃ ca pṛthagvidham |vividhāśca pṛthakceṣṭā daivaṃ caivātra pañcamam ||
Our explanation Krishna names the five: the seat (the body), the doer, the various instruments (the senses), the many different movements, and daiva, the divine factor, as the fifth. The schools explain the fifth differently (see the views).
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण पाँच कारण गिनाते हैं: अधिष्ठान (शरीर), कर्ता, अलग-अलग करण (इंद्रियाँ), अनेक प्रकार की चेष्टाएँ, और पाँचवाँ दैव। पाँचवें कारण को परंपराएँ अलग ढंग से समझाती हैं।
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- अधिष्ठानम् adhiṣṭhānam · the seat (the body) (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: adhi-ṣṭhāna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 22, col. 2 “a position, site, residence, abode, seat”
- तथा tathā · likewise (indeclinable) Dictionary: tathā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 433, col. 3 “in that manner, so, thus”
- कर्ता kartā · the doer (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: kartṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 257, col. 3 “one who makes or does or acts or effects, a doer, maker, agent, author”
- करणम् karaṇam · the instruments (the senses) (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: karaṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 254, col. 1 “instrument, means of action; an organ of sense or of speech”
- च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
- पृथग्विधम् pṛthagvidham · of various kinds (compound (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: pṛthag-vidha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 646, col. 1 “of d° kinds, manifold, various”
- विविधाः vividhāḥ · various (adjective (feminine), nominative plural) Dictionary: vi-vidha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 988, col. 1 “of various sorts, manifold, divers”
- च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
- पृथक् pṛthak · distinct (indeclinable) Dictionary: pṛthak, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 645, col. 3 “widely apart, separately, differently, singly, severally, one by one”
- चेष्टाः ceṣṭāḥ · activities (noun (feminine), nominative plural) Dictionary: ceṣṭa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 402, col. 1 “action, activity, effort, endeavour, exertion”
- दैवम् daivam · the divine (daiva) (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. daiva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 497, col. 2 “belonging to or coming from the gods, divine, celestial”
- च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
- एव eva · also (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
- अत्र atra · here (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. a-tra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 17, col. 2 “in this place, here”
- पञ्चमम् pañcamam · the fifth (adjective (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: pañcama, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 578, col. 2 “the fifth”
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 123.
The substratum, the agent likewise, the various sorts of organs, and the various and distinct movements, and with these the deities, too, as the fifth.
Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 123.
The substratum, the agent likewise, the various sorts of organs, and the various and distinct movements, and with these the deities, too, as the fifth.
You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 154–155.
The place, the actor and the various organs, and the several endeavours in various kinds, and the (presiding) deities also, the fifth.
This sentence begins in 18.13.
You are reading this one
Cite this verse
The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 123. Bhagavad Gita 18.14.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), pp. 154–155. Bhagavad Gita 18.14.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 325. Bhagavad Gita 18.14.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 18.14: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 25, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/18/14/
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Classical readings, by school
Each reading is named by its school. None is presented as the only meaning.
What Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita teach, in short
Shankara Advaita
Shankara explains daiva, the fifth factor, as the gods, such as Āditya (the sun), by whose help the eye and the other senses do their work.
Source: The Bhagavad-Gita, with the commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, translated by A. Mahadeva Sastri (2nd ed., Mysore: G. T. A. Printing Works, 1901), commentary on 18.14, p. 410. Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
Ramanuja Vishishtadvaita
Ramanuja explains daiva as the Supreme Self, the inner guide, and calls it the chief of the five factors. The soul acts, he says, but its power to act depends on the Supreme Self, as 18.61 says.
Source: Sri Bhagavad-Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita commentary, translated by A. Govindacharya (Madras, 1898), commentary on 18.14–18.15, p. 533. Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
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Bhagavad Gita 18.14
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् ।
विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ॥
“The substratum, the agent likewise, the various sorts of organs, and the various and distinct movements, and with these the deities, too, as the fifth.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 123, public domain)
“The place, the actor and the various organs, and the several endeavours in various kinds, and the (presiding) deities also, the fifth.”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), pp. 154–155, public domain)
This sentence begins in 18.13.
“The body, the agent, the various senses, the different functions of a manifold kind, and the presiding divinity, the fifth of these;”
(Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 325, public domain)
This sentence begins in 18.13. This sentence goes on in 18.15.
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/18/14/ Nothing is sent from this site. Your own app sends it, to the chat you choose. The picture quotes the translation you chose on this page, with its name and year.
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
Questions families ask
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 18.14?
Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 18 (Moksha Sannyasa Yoga).
Where does the Sanskrit text come from?
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Is the meaning on this page a translation?
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Source and licence
- Sanskrit text
- The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
- Translation
- The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Commentary
- The Bhagavad-Gita, with the commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, translated by A. Mahadeva Sastri (2nd ed., Mysore: G. T. A. Printing Works, 1901) (Public-domain scan, University of California Libraries). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
- Commentary
- Sri Bhagavad-Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita commentary, translated by A. Govindacharya (Madras, 1898) (Scan uploaded to archive.org (folkscanomy collection)). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
- Common wording
- In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.
- Updated
- October 25, 2026