Krishna - The Cause of All Causes Who's the Doer?

Digest 00334: Action – Who is the Doer?

Written by Romapada Swami

Question. 1.  Lord Krishna is explaining in 10th chapter that he is the creator of everything. I have serious doubts of who is the doer.

BG 10.2: Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness and distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy — all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.

In this verse he is saying that he is the source of all positive qualities. I can understand that, but he is also saying that distress, birth, death, fear,  infamy are also created by him. if he is the doer how can anyone possibly try to overcome birth, death, fear, distress? which is divine will….

Answer by Romapada Swami:

A. 1. Krishna is the creator or source, yet He remains the non-doer (see BG 4.13). Everything is being carried out by material nature (see BG 5.14). Material nature us working under Krishna’s direction (see BG 9.10). Krishna oversees and permits the actions of prakriti, in His feature as Supersoul (see BG 13.23).

Q. 2. Is Krishna the absolute truth also the source of all contradictions?

A. 2. Krishna is the source of everything, matter and spirit. Within the realm of spirit there are no contradictions.

Q. 3. One person was asking me that if one person murders another person then who is the doer?

I myself got confused in trying to answer him. because material nature itself is under the control of krishna (BG 9.10 & BG 7.14). So if one person acting under the modes of nature kills the body of another person which is also produced of modes of nature (BG 14.20) then who is the killer?

Since Krishna says everything is enacted by modes of nature (BG 3.27) and soul is simply the observer (BG 5.14).

A. 3. The slaying agent of the material body is material nature (again, BG 5.14), yet there are 5 factors to action (BG 18.13-16).

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Romapada Swami