न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः । न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥
na kartṛtvaṃ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ | na karmaphalasaṃyogaṃ svabhāvastu pravartate ||
Translation
The Lord does not create the agency of action or the actions of people, nor the connection of action with its fruits. Nature itself proceeds.
Interpretation
A subtle and important verse: the Divine (prabhu — the inner Lord, the Self) does not itself create doership, actions, or the bond between actions and results. These arise from prakriti — material nature, with its three gunas. The Self is the witness, not the creator of individual karma. This removes both fatalistic passivity ('God makes me do it') and egoic pride ('I am the supreme doer'). Nature unfolds according to its own laws; the Self simply illuminates the process.