Verse 13.21

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 13.21:

कार्य-कारण-कर्त्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिर् उच्यते ।
पुरुषः सुख-दुःखानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुर् उच्यते ॥ २१ ॥

kārya-kāraṇa-karttṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate |
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṃ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate || 21 ||

kārya–effect; kāraṇa–cause; karttṛtve–the workings; hetuḥ–the cause; prakṛtiḥ–material nature; ucyate–is said to be; puruṣaḥ–the jīva; sukha-duḥkhānām–of happiness and distress; bhoktṛtve–in experiencing; hetuḥ–the cause; ucyate–is said to be.

Material nature is said to bring about the workings of material cause and effect, and the minute living entity, the conditioned soul (puruṣa), is said to be the cause of his own experiences of material happiness, distress and so forth.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Now Śrī Bhagavān is revealing the living entity’s relationship with the external energy, māyā. Kārya (effect) refers to the body, kāraṇa (cause) refers to the senses, which are the means of happiness and misery, and karttṛtva (operating agent), refers to the presiding deities of the senses, the demigods. Due to ignorance, the puruṣa, or conditioned soul, adopts the attitude of being the doer, but in fact, material nature is the cause of this feeling. Material nature in contact with the puruṣa transforms into an effect. The tendency of māyā called avidya (ignorance) is to give illusory knowledge to the living entity. However, the puruṣa (living entity) is the sole cause of his experience of the happiness and misery produced by māyā. Although the effect (kārya), the cause (kāraṇa), the operating agency (karttṛtva) and the experience (bhoktṛtva) are the characteristics of material nature, all are predominated by inertness (jaḍa). And due to his conscious nature, the living entity (puruṣa) predominates over the experience of happiness and distress (bhokṛtva). A thing is named according to its predominant aspects. According to this logic, material nature is said to be the cause of the body (kārya), the senses (kāraṇa) and the demigods (karttṛtva). The puruṣa is said to be the cause of experience.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Prakṛti is the cause of mundane effect, or kārya (the body). It is also the cause of mundane cause, or kāraṇa, (the senses) and the cause of the operating agency, or karttṛtva (the presiding deities of the senses), while the conditioned living entity is said to be the cause of bhoktṛtva, the experience of mundane happiness and misery. Here, one should clearly understand that the living entity in his pure state is not the enjoyer of material happiness, nor does he experience distress. However, because the living entity is born from the marginal potency, when he identifies himself with the body, which is generated by contact with the external potency, an ego develops whereby he feels that he experiences material happiness and distress.

In this regard, Lord Kapiladeva says in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.26.8):

kārya-kāraṇa-karttṛtve kāraṇaṃ prakṛtiṃ viduḥ
bhoktṛtve sukha-duḥkhānāṃ puruṣaṃ prakṛteḥ param

O Mother, those who know the truth accept prakṛti (material nature) to be the cause of kārya (the body), kāraṇa (the senses) and karttṛtva (the presiding deities of the senses, the demigods).

Through his pure ego, the soul who is fixed in his constitutional position is related to Paramātmā as His eternal servant, and therefore Paramātmā dominates the soul’s existence. Thus the pure soul is above all material designations and unaffected by the transformations of material nature. Material nature predominates over the conditioned soul because he strongly identifies with the body, which is born from the transformation of material nature. Therefore, learned persons say that prakṛti, material nature, is the cause of the operating agency, or the presiding deities of the senses (karttṛtva). However, in terms of experiencing the results of action, such as happiness and distress, the puruṣa (living entity), who is different from material nature, is said to be the cause of that experience. Both the operating agent and experience, or perception, are subordinate to ego, yet material nature is the dominant factor in them because the body and so forth are the effect of inert matter. The experience of happiness and distress is not possible without consciousness; therefore, the conscious entity, who is under the control of material nature‚ is the dominant factor here. Ultimately, however, it should also be understood that the operating agency (karttṛtva) of both material nature and the conscious living entity is under the control of the Supreme Lord (Īśvara). Both māyā as well as the living entity are subordinate to His control.