Factors in the Production of an Act.
पञ्चैतानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे ।
साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम् ॥ १३ ॥
pañcaitāni mahābāho kāraṇāni nibodha me .
sāṅkhye kṛtānte proktāni siddhaye sarvakarmaṇām .. 13 ..
These five factors in the accomplishment of all action, know thou from Me, O mighty-armed, as taught in the Sāṅkhya which is the end of action.
Read the commentary
These: which are going to be mentioned. Learn: this exhortation is intended to secure steady attention on the part of the hearer to what follows, as well as to indicate the difference (in the view which is going to be presented) as to the nature of those things. In the words “taught in the Sāṅkhya,” the Lord praises them, as they are things that ought to be known. Sāṅkhya: Vedānta (the Upaniṣads) in which all the things that have to be known are expounded. It is qualified by the epithet “krita-anta,” the end of action, that which puts an end to all action (karma). The verses ii. 46, and iv. 33 teach that all action ceases when the knowledge of the Self arises; so that the Vedānta, which imparts Self-knowledge, is ’the end of action.'