Bg. 4.14

BG 4.14

Devanagari

न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा । इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ॥ १४ ॥

Verse text

na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛhā iti māṁ yo ’bhijānāti karmabhir na sa badhyate

Synonyms

na never ; mām Me ; karmāṇi all kinds of work ; limpanti do affect ; na nor ; me My ; karma-phale in fruitive action ; spṛhā aspiration ; iti thus ; mām Me ; yaḥ one who ; abhijānāti does know ; karmabhiḥ by the reaction of such work ; na never ; saḥ he ; badhyate becomes entangled.

Translation

There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

14. Actions do not contaminate Me. I have no desire for the fruits of work. One who knows this about Me is not bound by actions.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

14. Actions do not contaminate me. I have no desire for the fruits of work. One who knows this about Me is not bound by karma.

Purport

As there are constitutional laws in the material world stating that the king can do no wrong, or that the king is not subject to the state laws, similarly the Lord, although He is the creator of this material world, is not affected by the activities of the material world. He creates and remains aloof from the creation, whereas the living entities are entangled in the fruitive results of material activities because of their propensity for lording it over material resources. The proprietor of an establishment is not responsible for the right and wrong activities of the workers, but the workers are themselves responsible. The living entities are engaged in their respective activities of sense gratification, and these activities are not ordained by the Lord. For advancement of sense gratification, the living entities are engaged in the work of this world, and they aspire to heavenly happiness after death. The Lord, being full in Himself, has no attraction for so-called heavenly happiness. The heavenly demigods are only His engaged servants. The proprietor never desires the low-grade happiness such as the workers may desire. He is aloof from the material actions and reactions. For example, the rains are not responsible for different types of vegetation that appear on the earth, although without such rains there is no possibility of vegetative growth. Vedic smṛti confirms this fact as follows: nimitta-mātram evāsau sṛjyānāṁ sarga-karmaṇi pradhāna-kāraṇī-bhūtā yato vai sṛjya-śaktayaḥ “In the material creations, the Lord is only the supreme cause. The immediate cause is material nature, by which the cosmic manifestation is made visible.” The created beings are of many varieties, such as the demigods, human beings and lower animals, and all of them are subject to the reactions of their past good or bad activities. The Lord only gives them the proper facilities for such activities and the regulations of the modes of nature, but He is never responsible for their past and present activities. In the Vedānta-sūtra (2.1.34) it is confirmed, vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye na sāpekṣatvāt: the Lord is never partial to any living entity. The living entity is responsible for his own acts. The Lord only gives him facilities, through the agency of material nature, the external energy. Anyone who is fully conversant with all the intricacies of this law of karma, or fruitive activities, does not become affected by the results of his activities. In other words, the person who understands this transcendental nature of the Lord is an experienced man in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and thus he is never subjected to the laws of karma. One who does not know the transcendental nature of the Lord and who thinks that the activities of the Lord are aimed at fruitive results, as are the activities of the ordinary living entities, certainly becomes entangled himself in fruitive reactions. But one who knows the Supreme Truth is a liberated soul fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

“Let all that be, but now You have appeared in a kṣatriya family, and daily perform activities obligatory to the kṣatriya. It seems You are subsisting as a kṣatriya.” “But these activities do not contaminate Me as they contaminate the jīva. Nor do I have desire for results of those actions, such as desire for Svarga. Being full of My own bliss because I am the Supreme Lord, the only reason for My doing these actions is to encourage mankind. He who knows this is not bound, but he who does not know it is bound by karma.”

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

This verse elaborates the last. These actions such as creation do not contaminate Me with the fault of unfair dealings or desire, unlike the case of the jīva. This is because My acts of creation, maintenance and destruction are in response to the karmas of the jīva in his body, not to Me. I have no desire for results in actions such as creation of the universe or the bodies of the jīvas. Thus I am not contaminated by the acts of creation and destruction. He who acts with desire for results is contaminated by the results. I am full of bliss in My svarūpa and simply bestow what arises from the desires for enjoyment of the jīvas merged in prakṛti. As the efficient cause I am like the rain, [Note: The rain pours water on all seeds, and according to the type of seed, they all sprout into different plants. Similarly the Lord inspires the jīvas to act, but they act differently according to their past desires.] and simply put into motion their actions (decided by them). The smṛti says: nimitta-mātram evāsau sṛjyānāṁ sarga-karmaṇi pradhāna-kāraṇībhūtā yato vai sṛjya-śaktayaḥ The Lord is only the efficient cause for creation of bodies for the jīvas with mentality of men and devas. The causes of the variety in the mentalities of men and devatās are the powers of their previous actions. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.4.51 The Supreme Lord (asau) is the efficient cause (nimitta mātram) in the creation of bodies for the living entities with various mentalities as men and devatās (sṛjyānām). What causes the great variety in the states of men and devatās (pradhāna kāraṇībhūtā) are the powers arising from their old karmas (sṛjya śaktayaḥ). The author of the Vedānta Sūtras says: vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye na sāpekṣatvāt tathā hi darśayati The Lord does not show injustice or hatred to the living entities because of His concern for them. For the scriptures declare it so. Brahma Sūtras 2.1.35 The result of knowing this is then stated. He who knows Me in this way is not bound by previous karmas which are the causes of his bodies, and which create problems for his body. He becomes freed from those karmas. [Note: He who knows that the Lord is transcendental to the material world attains liberation. This is similar to verse 9.]

Surrender Unto Me

In this verse, Krsna explains His 'nondoership'. How He acts but doesn't act, and why He is like that. And He explains it because He has non‑attachments and impartiality. Because He is impartial, He is not bound and He is not changed by anything He does. Anyone who knows Krsna like this, who understands Krsna's position ‑ this is applying transcendental knowledge to work, helping one understand Krsna's position ‑ anyone who understands this, karmabhir na sa badhyate, he also doesn't become entangled in the fruits of his work. In other words, he also becomes liberated. Practically speaking he understands Krsna is the Lord, he is detached and he worships Krsna and he is never entangled in the reactions or the fruits of the work. All the work is going on by karma, which means the desires of the living entities. But Krsna says "I have no desires, therefore I am engaged in so many activities, paritranaya sadhunam ... but it is completly desireless. And because there is no desires attached to My work therefore I am unbound by My work and everyone who understands My position as being comp aloof from everything, he also doesn't become bound by work. And finally the last verse in this Section, [ 3 . Knowing Krsna as the awarder of the results of all work and as the transcendental creator of varnasrama, all liberated souls acted without becoming entangled. Arjuna should perform his duty and fight for Krsna, but with detachment. (15) ]