न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ॥ १५ ॥
śarīravāṅmanobhiryatkarma prārabhate naraḥ .
nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ .. 15 ..
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Right: not opposed to dharma, taught in the sastra. The opposite: what is opposed to dharma and opposed to sastra. Even those actions,—the act of twinkling and the like,—which are the necessary conditions of life are denoted by the expression “the right or the opposite”, since they are but the effects of the past dharma and a-dharma. Its causes: the causes of every action.
(Objection):—The body, etc. (xviii. 14), are necessary factors in every action. Why do you speak of (a distinction in actions) in the words “whatever action a man does by the body, speech or mind?”
(Answer):—This objection cannot be urged against us. In the performance of every action, whether enjoyed or forbidden, one of the three—body, speech or mind—has a more prominent share than the rest; while seeing, hearing, and other activities, which form mere concomitants of life, are subordinate to the activity of that one. All actions are thus classed into three groups and are spoken of as performed by body, or speech, or mind. Even at the time of fruition, the fruit of an action is enjoyed through the instrumentality of body, speech and mind, one of them being more prominent than the rest. Hence no gainsaying of the assertion that all the five are the causes of action (xviii. 14.)