Bhagavad Gita 18.15
शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः । न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ॥
śarīra-vāṅ-manobhir yat karma prārabhate naraḥ / nyāyyaṃ vā viparītaṃ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ
Translation
Whatever action a person undertakes with body, speech, or mind, whether right or its opposite, these five are its causes.
Reflection
What act have you been condemning or praising as though one person caused it?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Eighteen
Krishna closes the bracket. Every act, regardless of its instrument, body, voice, or mind, and regardless of its moral direction, righteous or otherwise, is produced by those same five causes acting together. Notice the inclusivity. Even the act we call wrong is multi-caused. Even the act we call right is multi-caused. The single I is not the lone author of either. This will matter for the next two verses, which apply the analysis to the question of guilt and freedom. If the I is one cause among five, the entire architecture of solitary blame and solitary credit needs revising.