A core teaching · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Without egoic ownership, action leaves no stain.”
One who has no sense of separate self and whose understanding remains unstained does not kill, even by killing all these beings, and is not bound.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallywhose · not · made by ego; marked by separate self · state · understanding · whose · not · is stained; clings · even after killing · that one · these beings · not · kills · not · is bound
A person who has dropped ego and stays inwardly untouched is not truly the killer, and is not trapped by the act.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Moksha Sanyasa Yoga" (Liberation through Renunciation).
Verse 17 sits in Chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita — Moksha Sanyasa Yoga, "Liberation through Renunciation". The chapter has 78 verses in total.
You make the call that ends a broken partnership. The words are heavy, but you do not have to carry them as personal guilt if you acted from clarity, not ego.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts responsibility from self-image to clear action, so the mind stops clinging to ownership.
What this verse means
A person who has dropped ego and stays inwardly untouched is not truly the killer, and is not trapped by the act.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Krishna is still answering Arjuna's panic about action and guilt. After explaining the many causes behind any deed, he now says the deepest shift is to lose the sense of separate doership. Then even the hardest action does not bind.
Why this verse still matters
You make the call that ends a broken partnership. The words are heavy, but you do not have to carry them as personal guilt if you acted from clarity, not ego.
“There is relief in seeing that action does not have to stain you when ego is absent.”
Explore related themes: nishkama (14 verses)