Bg. 5.7 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG 5.7

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Devanagari

योगयुक्तो विश‍ुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रिय: । सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥ ७ ॥

Verse text

yoga-yukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtātmā kurvann api na lipyate

Synonyms

yoga-yuktaḥ — engaged in devotional service ; viśuddha-ātmā — a purified soul ; vijita-ātmā — self-controlled ; jita-indriyaḥ — having conquered the senses ; sarva-bhūta — to all living entities ; ātma-bhūta-ātmā — compassionate ; kurvan api — although engaged in work ; na — never ; lipyate — is entangled.

Translation

One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

7. One engaged in karma-yoga, having controlled his intelligence, mind and senses, though he is engaged in work, is not contaminated, and is the object of love for all living entities. 8-9. The person engaged in karma-yoga, having knowledge, understanding that the senses alone are interacting with the sense objects while he is seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating [Note: These are the actions of the jṣāna indriya.], going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, excreting (through genital or anus), receiving [Note: These are the actions of the karma indriya, except for sleep and breathing, which are activities governed by the prāṇas. Opening and closing eyes are representative of the five secondary prāṇas. This is Rāmānuja’s opinion. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī says sleeping is the function of the mind.], opening and closing the eyes, thinks, “I am doing nothing at all.”

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

7. One engaged in karma yoga, gaining controlled intelligence, mind and senses, the object of love for all living entities, though working, is not contaminated. 8-9. The niṣkāma karma yogī, having knowledge of ātmā, understanding that the senses alone are interacting with the sense objects while he is seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, excreting (through genital or anus), receiving [Note: These are the actions of the karma indriya, except for sleep and breathing. Opening and closing eyes are representative of the five secondary prāṇas. This is Rāmānuja’s opinion as well. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī says sleeping is the function of the mind.], opening and closing the eyes, thinks, “I am doing nothing at all.”

Purport

One who is on the path of liberation by Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very dear to every living being, and every living being is dear to him. This is due to his Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Such a person cannot think of any living being as separate from Kṛṣṇa, just as the leaves and branches of a tree are not separate from the tree. He knows very well that by pouring water on the root of the tree, the water will be distributed to all the leaves and branches, or by supplying food to the stomach, the energy is automatically distributed throughout the body. Because one who works in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is servant to all, he is very dear to everyone. And because everyone is satisfied by his work, he is pure in consciousness. Because he is pure in consciousness, his mind is completely controlled. And because his mind is controlled, his senses are also controlled. Because his mind is always fixed on Kṛṣṇa, there is no chance of his being deviated from Kṛṣṇa. Nor is there a chance that he will engage his senses in matters other than the service of the Lord. He does not like to hear anything except topics relating to Kṛṣṇa; he does not like to eat anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa; and he does not wish to go anywhere if Kṛṣṇa is not involved. Therefore, his senses are controlled. A man of controlled senses cannot be offensive to anyone. One may ask, “Why then was Arjuna offensive (in battle) to others? Wasn’t he in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?” Arjuna was only superficially offensive because (as has already been explained in the Second Chapter) all the assembled persons on the battlefield would continue to live individually, as the soul cannot be slain. So, spiritually, no one was killed on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Only their dresses were changed by the order of Kṛṣṇa, who was personally present. Therefore Arjuna, while fighting on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, was not really fighting at all; he was simply carrying out the orders of Kṛṣṇa in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Such a person is never entangled in the reactions of work.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The jṣānī by performing karma is not contaminated. That is stated in this verse. The jṣānīs engaged in karma-yoga are of three types: those who have controlled their intelligence (viśuddhātmā), those who have controlled their minds (vijitātmā), and those who have controlled their senses (jitendriyaḥ). The order of superiority is from last to first: having controlled intelligence is the best. All jīvas are attracted to such a gṛhastha. His body (ātmā) becomes the object of love (ātma-bhūta) for all living entities (sarva-bhūta). The Lord teaches the method by which one is not contaminated by actions. Although the karma-yogī (yukta) is engaged in seeing and other actions, by verifying with his intelligence that the senses alone are engaged in the sense objects, he thinks, “I am doing nothing at all.”

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Such a person aspiring for liberation is the best among all people. The person engaged in niṣkāma karma yoga (yoga yuktaḥ) consequently having uncontaminated intelligence (viśuddhātmā), controlled mind (vijitātmā), and controlled senses – senses devoid of attraction to sense objects such as sound, and consequently whose body (ātmā) becomes the object of love (ātmā bhūta) for all jīvas (sarva bhūta), is not contaminated by work. Here, the meaning intended by the Lord, driver of Arjuna, cannot be “a person who has become one with all ātmās” because His previous statements indicated differences between all ātmās, with such verses as na tv evāham: not you, nor I, nor any of these kings have never not existed, nor in the future shall we never not exist. As well, it is not possible for the speaker, giving instruction to others, to talk if there is non-difference in the two persons’ knoweldge. Even performing actions, in this manner, he is not contaminated by thinking of the self as a material thing, because of his quest for the individual ātmā. Quickly he will attain the ātmā. Therefore karma yoga is better. Bg 5.8, Bg 5.9, Bg 5.8-9 NaEv ik-iĀTk-raeMaqiTa Yau¢-ae MaNYaeTa TatvivTa( ) PaXYaHXa*<vNSPa*XaiṚga]ṁīnNGaC^NSvPaNṅSaNa( )) 8 )) Pa[l/PaiNvSa*JaNGa*õṁuiNMaziṁiMazṁiPa ) wiNd]Yaa<aqiNd]YaaQaeRzu vTaRNTa wiTa DaarYaNa( )) 9 )) naiva kiṣcit karomīti yukto manyeta tattva-vit paśyaṣ śṛṇvan spṛśaṣ jighrann aśnan gacchan svapan śvasan pralapan visṛjan gṛhṇann unmiṣan nimiṣann api indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan na—never; eva—certainly; kiṣcit—anything; karomi—I do; iti—thus; yuktaḥ—engaged in the divine consciousness; manyeta—thinks; tattva-vit—one who knows the truth; paśyan—seeing; śṛṇvan—hearing; spṛśan—touching; jighran—smelling; aśnan—eating; gacchan—going; svapan—dreaming; śvasan—breathing; pralapan—talking; visṛjan—giving up; gṛhṇan—accepting; unmiṣan—opening; nimiṣan—closing; api—in spite of; indriyāṇi—the senses; indriya-artheṣu—in sense gratification; vartante—let them be so engaged; iti—thus; dhārayan—considering. In this verse the Lord instructs that the pure ātmā is not the doer of actions, which depend on the five factors, namely the body, senses, prāṇas, ego and fate (karma). The niṣkāma karma yogī (yuktaḥ), even though performing actions such as seeing, from the combination of body, senses, prāṇas, ahaṁkāra and karma arising from pradhāna, realizes the true nature of individual ātmā (tattva vit). Thus he is convinced that the senses such as eye relate to the sense object such as form by the influence of the Lord according to the individual’s previous impressions. He consequently thinks, “I am not doing anything at all.” Seeing by the eye, hearing by the ear, touching by the skin, smelling by the nose, and tasting by the tongue are the actions of the knowledge senses (jṣānendriya). Going by the feet, talking by the voice, excretion by the anus and genital and grasping by the hand are understood to be the action senses (karmendriya). Breathing represents the actions of the five major prāṇas. Opening and closing the eyes indicates the functions of the five secondary prāṇas. Sleeping indicates the actions of the internal organs (antaḥ karaṇa). [Note: Baladeva has used the plural for antaḥkaraṇa, perhaps meaning, mind, intellect and false ego.] I am only engaged in relishing the ātmā. The causes of actions are only the material elements such as body and senses arising from pradhāna, in turn caused by my beginningless material impressions (vāsanā). The cause is not due only to my essential nature. However it is not possible to claim that there is no doership at all for the ātmā in its essential nature, because ātmā itself is defined by its power of ascertainment and contemplation (implying doership). These elements are jṣāna, and that jṣāna is eternally part of the ātmā. The śruti thus says: na hi vijṣātur vijṣāter viparilāpo vidyate Knowing cannot be separated from the knower, because of being imperishable. Brhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.30 Moreover it is said that knowledge also is accomplished by the influence of the Lord as well as the capacity of the ātmā to know: hariṇā dharma-bhūtena jṣānena ca.

Surrender Unto Me

Here, after explaining in the last section how one should engage in niskama karma‑yoga. which is actually Krsna's recommendation in the Bhagavad‑gita (one should one's duty in a detached way), Krsna is now going to describe how to act or what the performance looks like. See the translation again.