न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभु: ।

न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥ १४ ॥

na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi

lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ

na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ

svabhāvas tu pravartate

Synonyms

na — never; kartṛtvam — proprietorship; na — nor; karmāṇi — activities; lokasya — of the people; sṛjati — creates; prabhuḥ — the master of the city of the body; na — nor; karma-phala — with the results of activities; saṁyogam — connection; svabhāvaḥ — the modes of material nature; tu — but; pravartate — act.

Translation

The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.

Purport

The living entity, as will be explained in the Seventh Chapter, is one of the energies or natures of the Supreme Lord but is distinct from matter, which is another nature – called inferior – of the Lord. Somehow the superior nature, the living entity, has been in contact with material nature since time immemorial. The temporary body or material dwelling place which he obtains is the cause of varieties of activities and their resultant reactions. Living in such a conditional atmosphere, one suffers the results of the activities of the body by identifying himself (in ignorance) with the body. It is ignorance acquired from time immemorial that is the cause of bodily suffering and distress. As soon as the living entity becomes aloof from the activities of the body, he becomes free from the reactions as well. As long as he is in the city of the body, he appears to be the master of it, but actually he is neither its proprietor nor controller of its actions and reactions. He is simply in the midst of the material ocean, struggling for existence. The waves of the ocean are tossing him, and he has no control over them. His best solution is to get out of the water by transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That alone will save him from all turmoil.