Question 1
What does Krishna ask Arjuna to learn in verse 18.13? A The five causes that must come together for the accomplishment of all actions. B The three kinds of food that shape a person’s faith and discipline. C The difference between giving up all work and giving up only difficult work. D The secret by which action can produce reward without responsibility.
Krishna begins this section by moving from renunciation to analysis. He asks Arjuna to understand the five causes involved in the completion of action.
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Question 2
Which five causes of action are listed in verse 18.14? A The body or seat, the doer, the instruments, the various efforts, and daiva, the divine or destiny factor. B Food, sacrifice, austerity, charity, and the final word Sat. C Desire, anger, greed, delusion, and pride as the complete mechanism of action. D Knowledge, devotion, meditation, silence, and withdrawal from society.
The verse refuses a one-factor explanation of action. Body, agency, instruments, effort, and the divine or destiny factor all participate.
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Question 3
How does verse 18.15 extend the five-cause teaching? A It says every action by body, speech, or mind, whether right or wrong, depends on these five causes. B It limits the five causes to ritual action, while ordinary speech and thought remain outside karma. C It says only righteous action has causes, while wrong action happens without any inner mechanism. D It teaches that mental action matters only after a visible physical action has occurred.
Krishna applies the framework broadly. Physical, verbal, and mental action all arise through this fivefold set of causes.
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Question 4
What error does Krishna expose in verse 18.16? A An immature intellect sees the self alone as the doer and misses the full mechanism behind action. B A disciplined intellect accepts too many causes and therefore cannot choose a duty. C A wise person should deny the role of body, senses, effort, and daiva in action. D The doer becomes pure by claiming personal ownership over every result.
After listing multiple causes, Krishna rejects the egoic conclusion: "I alone act." That view shows an untrained understanding.
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Question 5
Why is the person in verse 18.17 not bound by action? A Because egoistic doership is absent and the intellect remains unstained while acting in duty. B Because outwardly severe action never has consequences for anyone. C Because the verse cancels the need to examine motive, Dharma, or inner clarity. D Because refusing to act is the only way to keep the intellect unstained.
The verse is not permission for careless action. It describes action performed without egoic ownership and with an unstained intellect.
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Question 6
How does verse 18.18 describe the structure that moves and completes action? A Knowledge, the known, and the knower impel action; instrument, action, and doer make up its constituents. B Action begins only from the body and has no relation to knowledge, knower, or what is known. C The doer alone creates action, while instruments and knowledge are secondary illusions. D Only the result of action matters; the inner impulse and outer process are spiritually irrelevant.
Krishna distinguishes the impulse toward action from the assembled components of action. This prepares the next section’s analysis by the three gunas.
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Question 7
How does the teaching in 18.13-18 protect a learner from both pride and paralysis? A It shows that action has many causes, so one should act responsibly without the pride of "I alone do everything." B It shows that destiny alone acts, so personal effort and moral responsibility no longer matter. C It shows that action is too complicated to understand, so the safest path is to abandon all duties. D It shows that the body alone acts, so knowledge, intention, and inner clarity can be ignored.
The section balances responsibility with humility. A learner still acts, but no longer collapses action into personal ego alone.
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