Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 31
अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः।शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते।।
anāditvān nirguṇatvāt paramātmāyam avyayaḥ
śarīra-stho ’pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate
also searched as "anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatmayam avyayah"
Translation
This supreme Self, though dwelling in the body, is immutable, O Arjuna, being without beginning. It neither acts nor is tainted, as it is without Gunas.
Vāṇi's rendering
Beginningless, beyond nature's moods, the supreme self does not fade. Living in the body, it neither acts nor stains.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अनादित्वात्anāditvān | because it has no beginning (anāditvāt; the final t becomes n before the next word) |
| निर्गुणत्वात्nirguṇatvāt | because it is free of nature's three moods |
| परमात्माparamātmā | the supreme self |
| अयम्ayam | this (joined with paramātmā in the verse) |
| अव्ययःavyayaḥ | unfading, never worn down |
| शरीरस्थःśarīra-sthaḥ | seated in the body, living inside it |
| अपिapi | even so, though |
| कौन्तेयkaunteya | Arjuna, son of Kunti |
| नna | not |
| करोतिkaroti | does, acts |
| नna | nor |
| लिप्यतेlipyate | is smeared, is stained |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 31 mean?
Krishna gives two grounds and one conclusion. The supreme self has no beginning and no share in nature's moods; therefore, though it lives in a body, it neither performs deeds nor takes on their residue. Action belongs to the field — body, mind, habit. The knower is present through all of it and unmarked by any of it.
What is the meaning of anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatmayam avyayah?
Beginningless, and free of sattva, rajas and tamas — that is why the paramātmā does not fade. Anything with a beginning has an end; anything mixed with the guṇas rises and falls with them. This has neither. So its steadiness is not an achievement it maintains but a fact of what it is.
If the self does not act, why should I take responsibility for what I do?
Because responsibility belongs where action belongs — to the body, the mind, the choosing. Krishna is not excusing Arjuna from the battle; he fights in the very next chapters. What is lifted is the belief that your deeds have permanently dyed you. Act carefully, and stop treating your history as your substance.
How can something dwell in the body and still remain untouched by it?
Light fills a room without becoming the room's dust. The self is present at every ache and every decision, yet it is not a participant in them — it is the knowing in which they occur. Presence is not entanglement. That distinction, held steadily, is what the Gītā calls knowledge.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Two reasons are given, and both are strange ones. No beginning — so nothing made it, and nothing can unmake it. No moods of nature — so calm and restlessness and dullness pass across it the way weather crosses a window. From these two Krishna draws a conclusion Arjuna cannot draw for himself: the one living in your body does not act, and nothing sticks to it. The hands act. The story acts. But the deed leaves no residue on the one who was present for it. You have been carrying stains that never landed anywhere.