Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 17

Chapter 18 – Moksha Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते ।
हत्वाऽपि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते ॥

Transliteration

yasya nāhaṃkṛto bhāvo buddhiryasya na lipyate .
hatvā.api sa imā.Nllokānna hanti na nibadhyate ॥

Meaning

One who is free from the ego-sense of doership and whose intellect is untainted, though he slays these people, neither slays nor is bound.

Word meanings

यस्य – whose
न – not
अहंकृतः – produced by ego
भावः – notion, feeling
बुद्धिः – intellect
यस्य – whose
न लिप्यते – is not tainted
हत्वा अपि – even having slain
सः – he
इमान् – these
लोकान् – people, beings
न हन्ति – does not slay
न निबध्यते – is not bound

Anvaya (word order)

यस्य अहंकृतः भावः न, यस्य बुद्धिः न लिप्यते, सः इमान् लोकान् हत्वा अपि न हन्ति, न निबध्यते ।

Explanation

This is one of the boldest statements in the Gita. Krishna says that one in whom there is no ahankrita bhava — no ego-feeling of 'I am doing' — and whose intellect is not tainted by action and its fruit, even though he slays all these people, neither slays nor is bound. The statement speaks directly to Arjuna's situation on the battlefield, where the thought of killing his kinsmen was tormenting him.

The verse must be understood carefully. It is no licence for violence or immoral action. In a person truly free of ego and with an untainted intellect, no action driven by selfishness, hatred or anger can arise at all. Such a person performs only unavoidable duty, for the protection of dharma, as an instrument of the Divine — much as a just judge pronounces sentence without personal malice.

Secondly, the Self is by nature a non-doer: na hanti — it neither slays nor is slain (2.19). When the veil of ego is removed, a person knows himself as that witnessing Self, and although actions take place in the field of nature, they do not touch him. Hence na nibadhyate — he is not bound by their results.

Shankara says this is the state of the knower of the Self, in whom the pride of doership is completely destroyed; the phrase 'even though he slays' is also spoken by way of praising knowledge. Ramanuja explains that one who offers his agency to the Supreme and is unattached to the fruit incurs no sin even when slaying enemies in a righteous war.

Context

The previous verse called the one who regards himself alone as the doer deluded. This verse describes, by contrast, the condition of one free of ego. From the next verse (18.18) Krishna begins describing the threefold impulse to action and its constituents, and the threefold classification of knowledge, action and doer according to the gunas.

Life lesson

Bondage comes not from action but from the ego and attachment joined to it. Even difficult duties, when done without hatred or selfishness for the sake of what is right, do not burden the mind. Test the purity of your decisions by how much of 'me' and how much of 'right' is in them.

Key terms

Ahankrita bhava: The ego-sense 'I am the doer'
Taint of intellect: The intellect clinging to action and its results
Nirliptata: Remaining untouched while acting
Nibandhana: Bondage by the results of action