Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 17
यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते।हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते।।
yasya nāhankṛto bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate
hatvā ‘pi sa imāl lokān na hanti na nibadhyate
also searched as "yasya nahankrito bhavo buddhir yasya na lipyate"
Translation
He who is free from the notion of 'I am the doer,' and whose understanding is not tainted, does not slay, even though he slays all these men, nor is he bound.
Vāṇi's rendering
No 'I' in the act, no stain on the mind: though he slay these worlds, he slays not, nor is bound.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यस्यyasya | of whom, in whose case |
| नna | not (joined to the next word by sandhi: nāhankṛto) |
| अहंकृतःahankṛtaḥ | made by the 'I', done with the sense of being the doer |
| भावःbhāvaḥ | the inner state, the feeling behind the act |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | the understanding, the discerning mind |
| यस्यyasya | of whom |
| नna | not |
| लिप्यतेlipyate | is smeared, is stained, takes a coating |
| हत्वाhatvā | having slain |
| अपिapi | even, though (sandhi: hatvā 'pi) |
| सःsaḥ | he |
| इमान्imān | these (sandhi before lokān: imāl lokān) |
| लोकान्lokān | worlds, these peoples |
| नna | not |
| हन्तिhanti | slays |
| नna | not |
| निबध्यतेnibadhyate | is bound, is tied down |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 17 mean?
It means the bond is not in the deed but in the claim on it. Where the sense of 'I am the doer' is absent and the buddhi takes no stain, even the gravest act leaves no residue on the one who acts. The act still happens. Nobody is holding it.
What does yasya nahankrito bhavo buddhir yasya na lipyate teach?
Two conditions, not one. The bhāva — the inner posture — is free of ahaṅkāra, and the buddhi stays unsmeared. Krishna joins them deliberately. A mind can drop the words 'I did it' and still be quietly collecting credit. Both must go for the act to pass through cleanly.
Is this verse saying killing becomes acceptable if you feel detached?
No. Krishna is not licensing anything; he is describing how bondage works. Arjuna's duty was already established by the whole Gītā before this verse. What is added here is that duty done without ego and without stain does not accumulate. Detachment does not sanction an act — it removes the doer's claim on it.
How do I apply Bhagavad Gita 18.17 to ordinary work?
Watch the moment after you finish something. Notice the reflex that says 'I did that well' or 'that was my fault'. That reflex is the ahankṛta bhāva. Let the work stand and let the claim go unmade. The task remains fully yours to do and never yours to own.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just named the five factors in any deed — body, agent, organs, impulses, presiding powers. Now the consequence. Where no 'I did this' sits inside the act, the act leaves no residue. This is not a licence to kill; it is a description of what binding actually is. Binding is the claim. Arjuna, fighting because the field asks it, with no appetite for the killing and no self collecting credit, is not made a killer by the act. Look at your smallest action today. The ownership you take of it is the rope.