प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः | अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते || २७ ||
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
prakṛteḥ—of material nature; kriyamāṇāni—being done; guṇaiḥ—by the modes; karmāṇi—activities; sarvaśaḥ—all kinds of; ahaṅkāra-vimūḍha—bewildered by the false ego; ātmā—the spirit soul; kartā—doer; aham—I; iti—thus; manyate—thinks.
“In all cases, actions are being performed by the qualities (gunas) of material nature (Prakriti). But the self, deluded by the ego, thinks, 'I am the doer.'”
This is one of the pivotal verses of the chapter. All action arises from the interplay of the three gunas — sattva, rajas, and tamas — which are properties of Prakriti (nature). The pure Self (Atman) is the witness consciousness that never acts. The delusion of doership (ahamkara) arises when the Self mistakenly identifies with the body-mind complex. Liberation is the dissolution of this false identification.
Watch the habit of claiming personal ownership over your actions. When you do something well, notice the surge of 'I did this.' When you make an error, notice the impulse to deny or excuse it. Practice recognising that the body-mind acts according to its conditioning; true wisdom involves observing this process from a position of gentle detachment rather than identification.