न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा । इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ॥
na māṃ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛhā | iti māṃ yo 'bhijānāti karmabhir na sa badhyate ||
Actions don't taint Me — I have no longing for their fruits. Whoever knows Me thus is not bound by their actions.
Word by word (3)
- na māṃ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛhā
- — actions do not taint Me; I have no longing for the fruits of action · Na = not. Māṃ = Me. Karmāṇi = actions. Limpanti = taint, stain, smear (from lip = to smear/anoint — the image of action leaving a karmic residue that 'sticks' to the doer). Spṛhā = longing, craving, desire for (from spṛh = to long for). Me = for Me. No longing for fruits = no attachment that would cause the fruits to 'taint' or bind.
- iti māṃ yo abhijānāti karmabhiḥ na sa badhyate
- — whoever knows Me thus — is not bound by actions · Iti = thus, in this way. Abhijānāti = knows completely, recognizes (abhi+jñā = to know toward, to fully recognize). Karmabhiḥ = by actions (instrumental plural). Na badhyate = is not bound (from bandh = to bind — same root as bandha/bandhu). The extraordinary statement: knowing the truth of divine non-attachment liberates the knower from the binding power of their own actions.
- limpanti / na spṛhā
- — limpanti = taint/smear/stick (from lip = to smear/anoint; karma-lipti = karma-stickiness — karma is described as something that sticks/smears, like paint; the liberated Self is non-stick); na spṛhā = no longing/yearning (spṛhā = longing from spṛh = to desire eagerly; na spṛhā = without that eager desire-pull for results); the two negatives define the karma-yoga practitioner: actions don't stick (no karma-lipti) because there's no spṛhā (the desire-pull that makes them stick)
Actions do not taint Me, nor do I have any longing for the fruits of action. Whoever knows Me in this way is not bound by their actions.
A modern analogy
Rain falls on the ocean without changing its nature. The ocean is not 'accumulated rain' — each drop passes through and the ocean remains what it is. V14: actions pass through the divine without residue, because there is no desire-attachment to the fruit. The knowing person acts the same way — fully, cleanly, leaving no karmic residue.
Take with you
- The mechanism of karma-binding is revealed: actions bind only when accompanied by desire for fruit (spṛhā).
- No spṛhā = no binding. This is the inner mechanics behind V2.47's 'no right to the fruits.'
- Abhijānāti — knows completely. Intellectual acknowledgment is insufficient; this must be a deep, settled knowing.
- V14 gives the practitioner the 'why' behind non-attachment: it is literally the mechanism of liberation.
V14 gives the philosophical mechanics of karma-yoga's liberating power. Two conditions are stated for the divine's freedom from karma: 1) Actions do not taint (na limpanti) — because there is no ego-claiming of the action. 2) No longing for fruits (na spṛhā) — because the divine is already pūrṇa (complete). The liberation of the knower follows the same logic: iti māṃ yo abhijānāti — whoever knows Me in this way (i.e., understands the divine non-doership deeply) is themselves freed from the binding mechanism. Shankaracharya: the knowledge of the divine's akartṛtva (non-doership) produces the same akartṛtva in the knower — because the knower recognizes that the same principle applies to their own deeper nature (Ātman).
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Actions do not taint Me, nor do I have a desire for the fruits of action. He who knows Me thus is not bound by actions. [1]
Actions do not taint Me, nor do I desire the fruits of action. He who knows Me thus is not bound by actions. [4]
These works defile me not, nor do I desire their fruit; he who thus knows me is not fettered by works. [6]
Works do not soil Me; no desire have I For their fruits. Knowing this of Me, The man who works is not enslaved by work. [7]
Actions do not taint me; I have no desire for the fruit of actions. He who knows me thus is not fettered by actions. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Your right is to act — never to the fruits. Don't act for results. Don't hide in inaction.
Attachment to fruits abandoned, ever content, no dependence — fully active yet truly doing nothing at all.
Wise action without fruit-seeking breaks the birth-cycle and leads to the sorrowless state.
Five causes of action: body-locus, agent, various instruments, diverse efforts, and — fifth — the Divine/Fate.
Whatever action a person initiates with body, speech, and mind — right or the reverse — these five are its causes.
Sāttvic kartā: attachment-free, non-egotistic, firm, enthusiastic, unmoved by success or failure.