अनादित्वं निर्गुणत्वं परमात्मायम् अव्ययः । शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते ॥
anāditvaṃ nirguṇatvaṃ paramātmāyam avyayaḥ | śarīra-stho'pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate ||
Paramātmā: beginningless, nirguṇa, imperishable — dwelling in the body, yet neither acts nor is tainted.
Word by word (4)
- anāditvaṃ nirguṇatvam
- — beginninglessness (anāditva) and freedom from the guṇas (nirguṇatva) — the two defining attributes of Paramātmā
- paramātmā ayam avyayaḥ
- — this Paramātmā is imperishable (avyaya = not subject to decay or modification)
- śarīra-sthaḥ api kaunteya
- — even while dwelling in the body (śarīra-sthaḥ), O Kaunteya (Arjuna)
- na karoti na lipyate
- — neither acts (na karoti) nor is tainted (na lipyate) — the double negation of bondage
This Paramātmā — the Supreme Self — has no beginning, is beyond the three guṇas, and is imperishable. Even while dwelling within the body, O Kaunteya, it neither acts nor is ever tainted by any quality or action.
A modern analogy
A crystal rests in a bowl of colored water but its own transparency is never colored by it. So Paramātmā dwells within every body-mind without acquiring its qualities, colors, or actions.
This verse states WHY liberation is possible from first principles: the Paramātmā was never actually the doer or subject of bondage in the first place. Its apparent residence in the body (śarīra-stham) is purely spatial — the guṇas act, not the ātman. If the ātman were truly stained, liberation would be impossible; anāditva + nirguṇatva guarantee that it was never modified.
anāditva + nirguṇatva together mean: neither a created product (has no beginning in Prakṛti) nor constituted of material substance (has no guṇas). These two are the philosophical grounds for na karoti na lipyate. The V33 ākāśa-analogy is prepared here: after stating the principle, the next verse illustrates it with the space metaphor.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Having no beginning, having no qualities, this Supreme Self, imperishable, though dwelling in the Body, O son of Kunti, neither acts nor is tainted. [1]
Being without beginning and devoid of Gunas, this Supreme Self, immutable, O son of Kunti, though existing in the body neither acts nor is affected. [4]
This Supreme Soul which exists in the body is without beginning, without qualities, imperishable; and though it is in the body, O son of Kunti, it does not act, and is not tainted. [9]
Having no beginning and devoid of qualities, the Supreme Soul is immutable and, though dwelling in the body, O son of Kunti, neither acts nor is stained. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
When the seer sees only guṇas as agents and knows what is beyond them — he attains My being.
Transcending the three guṇas, the embodied one is freed from birth-death-age-pain and attains immortality.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Sattva, rajas, tamas — three guṇas born of Prakṛti — bind the indestructible ātman in every body.
Sāttvic jñāna: seeing ONE imperishable being in ALL — undivided among the divided.
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.