Bhagavad Gita 18.15: meaning and translation
Chapter 18: Moksha Sannyasa Yoga. Krishna says
Whatever action a person begins with body, speech or mind, right or wrong, Krishna says these five are its causes.
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Bhagavad Gita 18.15
शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः ।न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ॥
Shariravanmanobhiryatkarma prarabhate narahNyayyam va viparitam va panchaite tasya hetavah
śarīravāṅmanobhiryatkarma prārabhate naraḥ |nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ ||
Our explanation Whatever action a person begins with body, speech or mind, right or wrong, Krishna says these five are its causes.
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि मनुष्य शरीर, वाणी या मन से जो भी कर्म आरंभ करता है, उचित हो या उसके विपरीत, उसके ये पाँच कारण हैं।
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- शरीरवाङ्मनोभिः śarīravāṅmanobhiḥ · with body, speech and mind (compound (neuter), instrumental plural) Dictionary: śarīra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1057, col. 3 “the body, bodily frame, solid parts of the body”; vāc, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 936, col. 1 “speech, voice, talk, language”; manas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 783, col. 3 “mind (in its widest sense as applied to all the mental powers)”
- यत् yat · which (pronoun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
- कर्म karma · action (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: karman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 258, col. 2 “act, action, performance, business”
- प्रारभते prārabhate · begins, undertakes (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: prā-rabh, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 708, col. 2 “to begin, commence, undertake”
- नरः naraḥ · a man (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: nara, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 528, col. 3 “a man, a male, a person (pl. men, people)”
- न्याय्यम् nyāyyam · right (adjective (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: nyāyya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 572, col. 3 “regular, customary, usual, correct, right, fit, proper”
- वा vā · or (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. vā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 934, col. 2 “ind. or”
- विपरीतम् viparītam · the opposite (adjective (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: vi-parīta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 974, col. 1 “being the reverse of anything, acting in a contrary manner, opposite, contrary to (abl.)”
- वा vā · or (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. vā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 934, col. 2 “ind. or”
- पञ्च pañca · five (numeral (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: pañcan, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 578, col. 2 “five”
- एते ete · these (pronoun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: etad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 231, col. 2 “this, this here, here”
- तस्य tasya · of it (pronoun (neuter), genitive singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
- हेतवः hetavaḥ · causes (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: hetu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1303, col. 3 “‘impulse,’ motive, cause, cause of, reason for”
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 123.
Whatever action, just or otherwise, a man performs with his body, speech, and mind, these five are its causes.
Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 123.
Whatever action, just or otherwise, a man performs with his body, speech, and mind, these five are its causes.
You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 155.
Whatever action a man performeth by his body, speech and mind,1 whether right or the opposite, these five are its causer.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - Manas. ↩
You are reading this one
Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 325.
Whatever action a man performs by his body, speech and mind—whether right or the reverse—these five are its causes.
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 18.15.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 155. Bhagavad Gita 18.15.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 325. Bhagavad Gita 18.15.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 18.15: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 25, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/18/15/
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Bhagavad Gita 18.15
शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः ।
न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ॥
“Whatever action, just or otherwise, a man performs with his body, speech, and mind, these five are its causes.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 123, public domain)
“Whatever action a man performeth by his body, speech and mind, whether right or the opposite, these five are its causer.”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 155, public domain)
“Whatever action a man performs by his body, speech and mind—whether right or the reverse—these five are its causes.”
(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.
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/18/15/ 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 18.15?
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.
- 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