When a task goes well, the mind swells. We say, "I pulled it off." When the same task goes wrong, the mind sinks. We say, "I am a failure." The word is the same both times, "I", and the whole weight falls on one person both times.

The weight is so heavy because we take it for granted that the whole thing was done by us alone. The Gita corrects this gently. Your effort is real, but it is never the only cause of a result. Once that is seen, the weight settles in its right place, and the effort stays exactly as it was.

What does the Gita say about "I did it"?

Lord Krishna says that all actions are done by the modes of nature. The one whose mind is deluded by ego takes it for granted: "I am the doer." In plain words, no task is done by our strength alone. Our health is in it, our time, our tools, other people's help, the weather. To forget all this and say "I did everything" is an error in counting.

Of the one who sees this clearly, the Gita says that even while working he knows inwardly that he is not the only one who does (Gita 5.8). The work goes on, but the claim "it is all mine" loosens. The Gita adds that the feeling of being the doer is not placed in us from above. It runs in a being's own nature (Gita 5.14).

What causes stand behind any action?

The Lord names five.

• The base: our body and the place where the work happens.
• The doer: the one who acts, that is, you.
• The instruments: the senses and outer tools.
• The efforts: the many kinds of trying.
• Destiny: what is beyond our sight and control.

These five stand behind every action, right or wrong (Gita 18.15). The doer is on the list, so your part is real. But you are one of five.

This is why the Lord had said earlier that we should not be the cause of the fruit of action (Gita 2.47). When four of the five causes are not in your hands, how can you carry the whole weight of the result alone?

What does this do to pride and guilt?

The Lord says that whoever sees only himself as the doer does not see truly. When the work succeeds, it means that the other four causes helped as well, and gratitude takes the place of swagger. When the work fails, guilt shrinks to the size of your own part, one of five. You can look at that one and mend it. There is no use in sitting down to weep over the other four.

Pride and guilt grow from one root

Pride and guilt look like opposites, but they grow from the same root: writing the whole result in one's own name. In a win we take all the credit, and in a loss we take all the blame. So someone who learns to share the credit for a win also learns to share the blame for a loss, exactly as much as is true. The cure for one cures the other.

The same works with small things. Say you missed the morning bus. Base: you woke late. Doer: you were slow leaving the house. Instruments: your watch was five minutes behind. Effort: you ran, but a little late. Destiny: the bus left earlier than usual today. You need not take all the blame, and you need not push it all on others. Your own part is one thing: tomorrow, leave five minutes earlier.

What this does not mean

First, this is not a way out of responsibility. The doer and effort are both on the list, and the Gita says the right is in action, not in fruit (Gita 2.47). Your part has to be done by you.

Second, it does not say "destiny decides everything, so effort is useless". Destiny is the fifth cause, not the only one.

Third, it is not a way to clean up a wrong act. The five causes lie behind a wrong act as well (Gita 18.15), but that does not make the act right.

Fourth, do not tell a person in distress, "You are not the doer anyway." The Gita says that one who knows should not unsettle those who know only in part (Gita 3.29).

An example: Sunita's family dinner

Take Sunita, who cooked for her relatives. Everyone praised the food, and she told herself, "No one cooks better than I do." The next month, at another dinner, the vegetable dish came out too salty. Her heart sank: "I spoil everything."

Later Sunita went through the five causes. Base: a stove she did not know. Doer: she added the salt and did not taste it, and that was her own mistake. Instruments: a new salt jar with a wide mouth. Effort: food for forty in a short time. Destiny: the guests came earlier than expected, and there was no time to mend it. She took one lesson, "taste before the end", and let the rest lie lightly. The next time she was praised, it brought gratitude, not swagger.

Questions readers ask

Is it wrong to feel happy about my success?

No. Happiness is fine. What is wrong is the claim "I alone am the cause" (Gita 18.16). Share the credit with the other four causes, and the happiness stays.

I do the work, so how is the self a non-doer?

Body and mind move by the modes of nature, and the knower within watches them move (Gita 5.8). The work goes on; only the claim "it is all mine" goes.

If I feel guilty, does it mean I care?

Yes, and that care is good. The Gita wants it put to use in mending, not in sitting down: a person should lift himself and not let himself sink (Gita 6.5). Look at your one part, mend it, and let the rest go.

Will this make me careless?

No. The Gita says that yoga is skill in action (Gita 2.50). Seeing the five causes opens a way to improve each one, so the work becomes steadier.

Going deeper

The verses in order, with a table of the five causes and a second example, are in the detailed reading. The hard questions and the streams of commentators are in the deeper reading. Once you have seen your own part, the next step is to hand the result over, as described in Offering All Actions.