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।।



हिंदी अनुवाद - स्वामी रामसुख दास जी ( भगवद् गीता 18.17)
।।18.17।।जिसका अहंकृतभाव नहीं है और जिसकी बुद्धि लिप्त नहीं होती? वह इन सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंको मारकर भी न मारता है और न बँधता है।


English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's
18.17 Yasya, he who, the person whose intellect is refined by the instructions of the scriptures and the teachers, and reason; who has na, not; ahankrtah bhavah, the feeling of egoism, in whom does not occur the notion in the form, I am the agent; i.e., he who sees thus: These five, viz locus etc. (14), imagined in the Self through ignorance, are verily the agents of all actions; not I. But I am the absolute, unchanging witness of their functions, Without vita force, without mind, pure, superior to the (other) superior immutable (Maya) (Mu. 2.1.1); yasya, whose; buddhih, intellect, the internal organ, which is the limiting adunct of the Self; is na, not; lipyate, tainted, does not become regretful thinking, I have done this; as a result, I shall enter into hell; whose intellect does not become thus tainted, he has a good intellect and he perceives (rightly). Api, even; hatva, by killing; iman, these; lokan, creatures, i.e. all living beings; sah he; does not hanti, kill-he does not perform the act of killing; nor does he nibadhyate, become bound, nor even does he become connected with its result, the fruit of an unrighteous action.
Objection: Even if this be a eulogy, is it not contradictory to say, even by killing he does not kill?
Reply: This defect does not arise; for this becomes logical from the ordinary and the enlightened points of view. By adopting the empirical point of view (which consists in thinking), I am the slayer, by identifying the body with the Self, the Lord says, even by killing; and, by taking His stand on the supreme Truth as explained above (the Lord says), he does not kill, nor does he become bound. Thus both these surely become reasonable.
Objection; Is it not that the Self certainly does act in combination with the locus etc., which conclusion follows from the use of the word kevala (absolute) in the text, the absolute Self as the agent (16)?
Reply: There is not such fault, because, the Self being changeless by nature, there is no possiblity of Its becoming united with the locus etc. For it is only a changeful entity that can possibly be united with another, or come to have agentship through combination. But, for the changeless Self there can be no combination with anything whatsoever. Hence, agentship through combination is not logical. Therefore, the absoluteness of the Self being natural, the word kevalam is merely a reiteration of an established fact.
And the changelessness of the Self is well known from the Upanisads, the Smrtis and logic. As to that, in the Gita itself this has been established more than once in such texts as, It is said that৷৷.This is unchangeable (2.25), Actions are being done by the gunas themselves (see 3.27), this ৷৷.supreme Self does not act৷৷.although existing in the body (13.31), and in the Upanisads also in such texts as, It thinks, as it were, and shakes, as it were (Br. 4.3.7).
And from the standpoint of reason also, the royal path is to hold that the true nature of the Self is that It is partless, independent of others and changeless. Even if mutability (of the Self) be accepted, It should have a change that is Its own. The functions of the locus etc. cannot be attributed to the agency of the Self. Indeed, an action done by someone else cannot be imputed to another by whom it has not been done! As for what is imputed (on somody) through ignorance, that is not his. As the ality of silver is not of nacre, or as surface or dirt attributed through ignorance to the sky by foolish people is not of the sky, similarly, the changes in the locus etc. also are verily their own, and not of the Self. Hence it has been well said that the enlightened person does not kill, nor is he bound, becuase of the absence of his being tainted by the idea that actions are done by himself. [Some translate this portion thus: ৷৷.because of the absence of the thought I am doing, and also due to the taintlessness of the mind; or, ৷৷.in the absence of egotism and of all taint in the mind.-Tr.]
After having declared, This One does not kill, nor is It killed (2.19); having stated the immutability of the Self through such texts as, Never is this One born (2.20) , etc., which adduce the reason for this; having briefly stated at the commencement of the Scripture-in, he who knows this One as indestructible (2.21)-that the enlightened man has no eligibility for rites and duties; and having deliberated in various places on that (cessation) which has been mooted in the middle (of the Scripture), the Lord, by way of summarizing the purport of the Scripture, concludes here by saying that the enlightened person does not kill, nor does he become bound. If this be so, then it becomes established that the three kinds of results of actions, viz the undesirable etc., do not accrue to the monks, since it is reasonable that, because of the illogicality of their entertaining the idea of being embodied, all actions resulting from ignorance become abandoned (by them). And hence, as a conseence of a reversal of this, it becomes inevitable that the results do accrue to others.
Thus, this is how the purport of the scripture Gita has been summed up. In order that this which is the essence of the teachings of all the Vedas should be. understood after deliberation by the learned ones possessing a sharp intellect, it has been explained by us in accordance with the scriptures and reasoning, in various places by dealing with it topically.
Thereafter, now is being stated what promts actions:


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].


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