Bhagavad Gita 5.10ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti
yaḥ lipyate na sa pāpena padma-patram ivāmbhasā
Sanskrit recitation
Renounce the clinging, not the work · 5.1–5.12 · Teaching
Translation
He who does actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not tainted by water.
Hindi translation
जो (भक्तियोगी) सम्पूर्ण कर्मोंको भगवान् में अर्पण करके और आसक्तिका त्याग करके कर्म करता है, वह जलसे कमलके पत्तेकी तरह पापसे लिप्त नहीं होता।
Meaning
Chapter IV verses 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 37, 41 Chapter V verses 10, 11 and 12 all convey the one idea that the Yogi who does actions without egoism and attachment to results or fruits of the actions, which he regards as offerings unto the Lord, is not tainted by the actions (Karma). He has no attachment even for Moksha. He sees inaction in action. All his actions are burnt in the fire of wisdom. He escapes from the wheel of Samsara. He is freed from the round of births and deaths. He gets purity of heart and through purity of heart attains to the knowledge of the Self. Through the knowledge of the Self he is liberated. This is the gist of the above ten verses. (Cf.III.30)
After Swami Sivananda
Renounce the clinging, not the work· 5.1–5.12→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 5.1Arjuna said, "O Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions and also yoga. Please tell me…
- 5.2The Blessed Lord said, "Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest…
- 5.3He should be known as a perpetual Sannyasi who neither hates nor desires; for, free from…
- 5.4Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and the Yoga of action, or the performance of…
- 5.5That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis is also reached by the Yogis…
- 5.6But, O mighty-armed Arjuna, renunciation is hard to attain without Yoga; the sage who is…
- 5.7He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is pure, who has conquered the self,…
- 5.8I do nothing at all," thus would the harmonized knower of Truth think, seeing, hearing,…
- 5.9Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening, and closing the eyes, one should be convinced that…
5.10He who does actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by…
- 5.11Yogis, having abandoned attachment, perform actions only through the body, mind,…
- 5.12The one who is united (the well-poised or harmonized) having abandoned the fruit of action…
Word-by-word→
- na
- never
- iva
- like
- saḥ
- that person
- yaḥ
- who
- karoti
- performs
- lipyate
- is affected
- pāpena
- by sin
- ambhasā
- by water
- saṅgam
- attachment
- tyaktvā
- abandoning
- ādhāya
- dedicating
- brahmaṇi
- to God
- karmāṇi
- all actions
- padma-patram
- a lotus leaf
Related verses
- 5.17Their intellect absorbed in That, their self being That, established in That, with That as…
- 4.21Without hope, controlling the mind and the self, having abandoned all covetousness, and…
- 18.66Abandon all duties and take refuge in Me alone; I will liberate you from all sins; do not…
- 12.6But to those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me, regarding Me as the supreme…