Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 17
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 18 श्लोक 17

यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते।
हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते।।18.17।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
18.17 He who has not the feeling of egoism, whose intellect is not tainted, he does not kill, nor does he become bound-even by killing these creatures!


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
18.17 He who, through the contemplation of the agency of the Supreme Being, is free from the self-conceit, I alone do everything; he whose understanding is not therefore tainted, and has come to be informed by the understanding; As I am not the agent of this work, its fruit is not connected with me; so this work does not belong to me - such a person, though he slays all these men, not merely Bhisma, etc., does not slay them. Therefore, he is not bound by the actions known as battle. The meaning is that the fruits of such actions do not accrue to him.

Sri Krsna now teaches how action is induced. For this he differentiates actions generated by Sattva and the other Gunas. The object is to inculcate the desirability of the Sattvika type. For, only meditation on the self not being the agent, brings about the growth of Sattva.


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 18.17Yasya naahankrito bhaavo buddhiryasya na lipyate;
Hatwaapi sa imaam llokaan na hanti na nibadhyate.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 18.17yasya—whose; na ahankṛitaḥ—free from the ego of being the doer; bhāvaḥ—nature; buddhiḥ—intellect; yasya—whose; na lipyate—unattached; hatvā—slay; api—even; saḥ—they; imān—this; lokān—living beings; na—neither; hanti—kill; na—nor; nibadhyate—get bound