Prakruti- svabhava

भूमिरापो नलो वायुः खं मनोबुद्धिरेव च।अहंकार इतीयं मे भिन्नाप्रक्रुतिरश्टधा॥ (७. ४)

अपरेयमितस्त्वन्यां प्रक्रुतिं विद्धि मे पराम् | जीवभूतां महाबाहो ययेदं धार्यते जगत्॥(७. ५)

bhūmirāpo nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ manobuddhireva ca|

ahaṁkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnāprakrutiraśṭadhā॥ [7.

apareyamitastvanyāṁ prakrutiṁ viddhi me parām

jīvabhūtāṁ mahābāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat॥ [7. 4-5]

  earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and ego are my eight manifest forms- nature, svabhava. all the living beings have been produced by these eight elements of my yogamaya. Hence I am at the root of all existence.  

  Further, nature is made up of the three qualities- rajas, tamas and sattwa. The Atman is beyond these three qualities and their functions. Only when knowledge of this fact dawns in a person does he attain perfection. The Lord tells Arjuna that each one should do his duty according to his nature, and that doing duty that is suited to one’s nature in the right spirit of detachment will lead to perfection.

    Arjuna raises the question as to why man commits such actions that cloud his mind and drag him downwards, by force, as it were. Shree Krishna answers that it is desire that impels man to lose his discrimination and understanding, and thus commit wrong actions. Desire is the root cause of all evil actions. If desire is removed, then the divine power manifests in its full glory and one enjoys peace, bliss, light and freedom.  

    Prakriti or Nature is that state in which the three Gunas exist in a state of equilibrium. When this equilibrium is disturbed, creation begins, and the body, senses, and mind are formed. The man who is deluded by egoism identifies the Self with the body, mind, the life-force and the senses, and ascribes to the Self all the attributes of the body and the senses. In reality the Gunas of nature perform all actions. Thus he gets into avidya.