The Gunas of Prakriti perform all karma. With the understanding clouded by egoism, man thinks, “I am the doer.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 27)
Karma is inherent in nature, which is constituted of the three Gunas – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. But there is no karma whatsoever in Atman. The ignorant man is incapable of distinguishing between the action ridden nature and the actionless Self.
It is egoism to identify the Self with the non-Self.
Two trains stand side by side in a railway station. A passenger in one train fixes his gaze on the other.
When the other train moves the man fancies that his own vehicle moves. Likewise, the mobility of Prakriti is imposed on the immobile atman. Egoism is brought about by mistaking Prakriti for Atman.
Bondage persists as long as egoism lasts.
The egoistic man thinks himself as the doer while actually he is not. Egoism and agency are the outcomes of ignorance.
Source – Bhagavad Gita commentary by Swami Chidbhavananda published in 1965
More from Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita and Wealth Creation
Bhagavad Gita helps us in striking a balance – it shows us how to create wealth, enjoy it and not to drown in it. (Read more - on Bhagavad Gita and Wealth)
Those men who practice severe austerities not enjoined by the Shastras, given to ostentation and egoism, possessed with the power of lust and attachment, torture, senseless as they are, all the organs in the body, and Me dwelling in the body within; know them to be of Asurika resolve. (Bhagavad Gita Quotes)
More from Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita and Wealth Creation
Bhagavad Gita helps us in striking a balance – it shows us how to create wealth, enjoy it and not to drown in it. (Read more - on Bhagavad Gita and Wealth)
Those men who practice severe austerities not enjoined by the Shastras, given to ostentation and egoism, possessed with the power of lust and attachment, torture, senseless as they are, all the organs in the body, and Me dwelling in the body within; know them to be of Asurika resolve. (Bhagavad Gita Quotes)