कार्यकारणकर्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिरुच्यते।पुरुषः सुखदुःखानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते।।13.21।।
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛitve hetuḥ prakṛitir uchyate puruṣhaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛitve hetur uchyate
Scripture Translation Room
Sanskrit to English Translation
A Reading - Rantideb
Why: nature is said to be the cause of cause and effect, the Self is said to be the cause of the experience of pleasure and pain, distinguishing between what generates events and what actually experiences them as pleasant or painful.
In life: circumstances themselves aren't inherently pleasant or painful in some fixed, objective way, a large part of that experience is generated by the perceiving self encountering the circumstance, not just by the circumstance alone.
Teaching: the next time a circumstance feels unbearably painful, separate in your own mind what's actually happening externally from how your particular perceiving self is currently experiencing and interpreting it, that separation sometimes reveals more room for a different response than felt available at first.