योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः। सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते॥५-७॥
yoga-yukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ | sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtātmā kurvann api na lipyate || 5.7 ||
Yoga-joined, purified, self-controlled, seeing one's Self as the Self of all beings — even while acting, untainted.
Word by word (6)
- yoga-yuktaḥ
- — joined to yoga / united through yoga
- viśuddha-ātmā
- — purified self / of pure heart
- vijita-ātmā
- — whose lower self is conquered / self-mastered
- jita-indriyaḥ
- — with conquered senses
- sarva-bhūta-ātma-bhūta-ātmā
- — whose Self has become the Self of all beings / who identifies as the ātman in all
- kurvan api na lipyate
- — even while acting, is not stained/tainted
The person joined to yoga, with a purified self, self-mastered, with senses conquered — and who, most crucially, sees their own Self as the Self dwelling in all beings — even though they continue to act, they are not stained by those actions.
A modern analogy
A doctor who treats every patient as if treating themselves — not out of guilt or duty but from a genuine recognition of shared humanity — acts fully, exhaustively, but carries no residue of ego-involvement. The action flows through without sticking.
What it does NOT mean
This is not a description of someone exceptional and rare. It is the description of a karma-yoga practitioner who has progressively purified their selfhood. The phrase 'sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtātmā' — seeing one's Self as the Self of all — is the culmination, not the prerequisite.
Take with you
- The progression: yoga-joined → purified → self-conquered → sense-conquered → sees Self in all. Each stage enables the next.
- Seeing the Self in all beings (sarva-bhūta) is not a moral principle to be forced — it is a perception that dawns through purification.
- kurvan api na lipyate: 'even while acting, not stained' — this is the liberation that karma-yoga promises. Not freedom FROM action but freedom WITHIN action.
V7 portraits the karma-yogi at the stage of relative maturity. Four qualities precede the culminating insight: yoga-yukta (joined to yoga), viśuddhātmā (purified self), vijitātmā (lower self mastered), jitendriyaḥ (senses conquered). These are the progressive conditions. But the crowning qualification is sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtātmā — a compound of extraordinary weight: 'whose ātmā has become the ātmā-of-all-beings.' This is not an ethical achievement (deciding to care about others) but an ontological recognition: the ātman in me and the ātman in you are the same ātman. Once this is seen — not believed but seen — lipyate (staining) becomes structurally impossible. Karma requires a separate ego-agent to stick to. Where that agent has dissolved into universal ātman-recognition, karma has nothing to cling to.
Modern parallels
Martin Buber's 'I-Thou' relationship — seeing the other not as an object (I-It) but as a genuine subject — approximates the beginning of sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtātmā. The Gita goes further: not just seeing the other as a subject, but recognizing that the same ātman constitutes all subjects.
Practice
In meditation, after settling into the observer-awareness, extend that awareness to include the room, then the building, then all beings — not as a visualization but as recognition: the awareness that sees is the same awareness in all who see.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
"Joined to Yoga, of purified self, with self and senses subdued, who has become one with the self in all beings — even while acting, he is not tainted." [1]
"He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is quite pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued his senses, and who realises his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting, he is not tainted." [4]
"He who is harmonised by devotion, self-purified, self-governed, sense-controlled, who is the SELF of all beings, though acting is not polluted." [5]
"The devotee who is of a purified self and who has restrained his senses is dear to all beings, and being one with them, is not tainted by works although he performs them." [6]
"Who is yoked, pure of soul, with self controlled, with senses mastered, seeing the One Life in all Lives, though acting yet untouched." [7]
"One who is devoted to devotion, who is pure-minded, who has subdued his self and restrained his senses, and whose self becomes the self of all beings, is not tainted even though he acts." [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Surrendering all actions to Brahman, abandoning attachment — like a lotus leaf, sin never clings.
Equal vision everywhere: the yogi sees the Self in all beings, and all beings within the Self — the same, everywhere.
Every being born — moving or unmoving — arises from the union of kṣetra and kṣetrajña alone.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
Unable even to act for My sake? Then take refuge in Me, abandon all fruits of action — with self-restraint.
Sattva, rajas, or tamas — each can become dominant over the others, alternating in every mind.