Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13, Verse 32

Chapter 13 – Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः ।
शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते ॥

Transliteration

anāditvānnirguṇatvātparamātmāyamavyayaḥ .
śarīrastho.api kaunteya na karoti na lipyate ॥

Meaning

Being beginningless and free from the gunas, this imperishable Supreme Self, O son of Kunti, neither acts nor is tainted, even though it dwells in the body.

Word meanings

अनादित्वात् – because of being beginningless
निर्गुणत्वात् – because of being without gunas
परमात्मा – the Supreme Self
अयम् – this
अव्ययः – imperishable, unchanging
शरीरस्थः – dwelling in the body
अपि – even though
कौन्तेय – O son of Kunti (Arjuna)
न – not
करोति – acts
न – not
लिप्यते – is tainted

Anvaya (word order)

कौन्तेय, अयम् अव्ययः परमात्मा अनादित्वात् निर्गुणत्वात् (च) शरीरस्थः अपि न करोति, न लिप्यते ।

Explanation

Verse 30 declared the Self to be a non-doer. Krishna now gives the reason: the Supreme Self is beginningless and beyond the gunas, and therefore imperishable. Whatever has a beginning must have an end; what is beginningless is also endless. Whatever possesses qualities undergoes change, for qualities are always shifting; what is free of qualities cannot be modified. Hence it is avyaya, undiminishing and unchanging.

To act is to undergo change, and to be tainted by the results of action is the consequence of that change. That which is wholly changeless neither acts nor is bound by fruits. Though it dwells in the body, it is untouched by the body's conditions: birth, growth, illness, ageing and death. The pleasures and pains, merits and demerits of the body do not reach it.

Shankara clarifies that even ‘dwelling in the body’ is said only from the standpoint of limiting adjuncts. Just as the sun's reflection appears in water without the sun becoming wet, the Self appears to reside in the body without being bound by it. Ramanuja allows the term paramatma here to refer also to the individual self, supreme in relation to the body, beginningless in its own nature and free from material gunas; the actions of the body do not alter that nature. Madhva takes it as describing the Supreme Lord who dwells within every being alongside the soul, yet is never tainted by the soul's deeds.

The teaching of 2.20-24, that the Self is never born and never dies, that weapons cannot cut it nor fire burn it, returns here, now grounded in the reasons of beginninglessness and freedom from the gunas. What was first offered to Arjuna as comfort in grief is now offered as settled philosophical insight.

Context

Krishna gives Arjuna the philosophical basis for the Self's non-agency. Verse 31 spoke of seeing all beings in the One; here the untainted nature of that Supreme Self is explained. The next verse makes the point vivid with the analogy of space.

Life lesson

Within each of us is a centre that no insult can diminish and no success can inflate. Knowing that as our true identity, we can remain calm and fearless through the ups and downs of life.

Key terms

Anadi: beginningless
Nirguna: beyond the three gunas of Nature
Avyaya: imperishable, free from decay or change
Na lipyate: is not tainted by action or its fruits