Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 10
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः । लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ | lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatramivāmbhasā
Translation
He who does actions, offering them to Brahman, abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, as a lotus leaf by water.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- brahmaṇi
- in Brahman
- ādhāya
- having placed
- karmāṇi
- actions
- saṅgam
- attachment
- tyaktvā
- having abandoned
- karoti
- acts
- yaḥ
- who
- lipyate
- is affected
- na
- not
- saḥ
- he
- pāpena
- by sin
- padmapatram
- of the lotus, the leaf
- iva
- like
- ambhasā
- by water
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
He offers all actions to the Īśvara, in the faith that 'I act for His sake,' as a servant acts for the sake of the master. He has no attachment for the result, even for mokṣa. The result of actions so done is only purity of the mind, and nothing else.