The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

╭ chapter eighteen
the means, the ego, the performance of the act,
and the divine will: 15 these are the five factors in all
actions, right or wrong, in thought, word, or deed.
16
Those who do not understand this think of
themselves as separate agents. With their crude
intellects they fail to see the truth. 17 The person
who is free from ego, who has attained purity
of heart, though he slays these people, he does
not slay and is not bound by his action.
18
Knowledge, the thing to be known, and the
knower: these three promote action. The means,
the act itself, and the doer: these three are the
totality of action. 19 Knowledge, action, and the doer
can be described according to the gunas. Listen,
and I will explain their distinctions to you.
20
Sattvic knowledge sees the one indestructible Being
in all beings, the unity underlying the multiplicity
of creation. 21 Rajasic knowledge sees all things
and creatures as separate and distinct. 22 Tamasic
knowledge, lacking any sense of perspective, sees
one small part and mistakes it for the whole.
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