Chapter 3, Verse 27
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra vimūḍhātmā
kartā’ham-iti manyate
While all actions are being entirely done by the gunas of Prakriti, he whose self is bewildered by egoism thinks that it is his ‘I’ which is acting.
Here Krishna says that the one who is bound by the three gunas – rajas, tamas and sattva – is bound by the qualities of these gunas. These gunas are born from Prakriti, Nature, so such a person is attached to the fruit of Prakriti. The mind, intellect and ego, are very active in him.
“He whose self is bewildered by egoism thinks that ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’ am acting.” When the mind is blinded by the senses, by the glamour of the outside, by always wanting more and more and more; one is always chanting one’s own glorification. This kind of person who does action in the world is bound by the gunas. He is not free. Krishna says, “He whose self is bewildered,” – ahaṅkāra vimūḍhātmā – this person is doing everything out of ego. He is identifying himself so much with the body and with the 23 elements which are associated with the body. He claims that he is the doer, that it is he who reflects, hears, sees, eats, drinks, sleeps, walks and so on. He always identifies himself with ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’.
As long as one hangs onto this ‘I’, one binds oneself and brings the cause of sadness. This pride and egoism bring the cause of taking birth and death, birth, and birth and birth many times. Krishna says, “Don’t go into this egoism. Don’t go into this game when pride overtakes you and blinds you Know that I am the One who is doing everything, not you! O Arjuna, don’t hang onto this pride, and think that it is you who is doing something. I am the Great Soul. I am the Soul of souls. It is Me who is doing it.” Here Krishna was saying, “I am doing it.” But there are two different ‘I’s: the ‘I’ which is full of pride and the ‘I’ of the Self, which is full with humility.
Krishna is reminding Arjuna, “I am the cosmic Soul Myself. I do everything. But I am not sitting and waiting for people to glorify Me and sing My glory.” Of course, we all sing the glory of the Lord because of the example He has given! But He is not attached to that glorification. What He is attached to is this Love that we express to Him. That’s what God longs for – this Love. And in the presence of egoism, one doesn’t see Him, even if He is near.
Bhagavad Gita
