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 - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan
18.17. He, whose mental disposition is not dominated by the sense  I, and whose intellect is not stained - he, even if he slays these worlds, does not [really]  slay any and he is not fettered.


English Translation of Commentary  - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan
18.13-17 Panca etc. upto na nibadhyate Conclusion :  the established end, because here a decision is arrived at.  Basis : the material object Destiny :  the good and  bad result  [of actions] previously accumulated.  These five viz., the basis etc., constitute the entire assembly of factors and hence they are the causes for each action.
 
But other [commentators give an etymology of]  adhisthana basis to mean That by which all actions are governed; and on that ground they believe that it denotes that action which exists in the intellect; which comes ot be due to the Rajas, and is being prone to transform itself into the pentad of (the mental dispositions viz.)  the content, the faith, the happiness, the desire to know and the aversion to know; which is referable by the term karma-yoga  (that which yokes man into activity); and which is described at times by the term prayatna effort.
 
Agent :  the ascertainer characterised by the intellect.  Instrument :  [the personal instruments viz.] the mind, the eye etc., and also the external ones like sword etc.  Activity :  the activity of  upper life-breath, nether life-breath etc.  The effects of the righteous and unrighteous acts are indicated by the term Destiny.  All the dispositions located in the intellect are indicated by these two.  Still other commentators, however, take Basis to be the Absolute Lord.
 
Due to his  imperfect intellect :  because of his having indecisive  knowledge.  But he, who performs actions with the stability due to disappearance of th I-sense  (limited) and  [a stability] refined by hundreds of reasoning, as detailed earlier - he does not get the fetter, because he is a man of perfect intellect.  This is what is intended  [in the passage under study].


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