Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 14
न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा।
इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते।।
इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते।।
na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛhā
iti māṁ yo ’bhijānāti karmabhir na sa badhyate
also searched as "na mam karmani limpanti na me karma-phale sprha"
Translation
Works cannot contaminate Me. There is no desire for the fruits of actions in Me. He who understands this is not bound by actions.
Vāṇi's rendering
Work does not stain me; I hunger for no result. Know me this way, and work will not bind you.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| मांmāṁ | me |
| कर्माणिkarmāṇi | actions, works |
| लिम्पन्तिlimpanti | smear, stain, leave a mark on |
| नna | not |
| मेme | in me, mine |
| कर्मफलेkarma-phale | in the fruit of action, in what the work yields |
| स्पृहाspṛhā | craving, the reaching-out of want |
| इतिiti | thus, in this way |
| मांmāṁ | me |
| यःyo | whoever (yaḥ, softened to yo before the following vowel) |
| अभिजानाति'bhijānāti | knows through and through (initial a absorbed in sandhi) |
| कर्मभिःkarmabhir | by actions |
| नna | not |
| सःsa | he, that one |
| बध्यतेbadhyate | is bound, is tied down |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 14 mean?
Krishna says action does not stain him, because he craves nothing from its outcome. The binding power of work lies in the wanting, not in the working. Whoever knows Krishna this way — as one who acts without appetite for result — finds that his own actions stop tying him down.
What does na mam karmani limpanti na me karma-phale sprha teach?
That purity in action is not about doing less. Krishna acts constantly and remains unmarked, because no spṛhā — no reaching-out toward the fruit — attaches him to what he does. The verse relocates bondage from the deed to the desire behind the deed.
If Krishna wants nothing, why does he act at all?
Because the world needs the work done, not because he needs the result. He has just described descending in every age to restore dharma. That descent costs him nothing and gains him nothing. Acting for the sake of what must be done, rather than what you might get, is exactly what he is teaching Arjuna.
How can knowing Krishna free me from the bondage of karma?
Knowing here is not information. It is recognising in your own working the pattern Krishna describes — hands engaged, appetite quiet. When you actually see that he acts without craving, you stop assuming action must be paid for with anxiety. The work continues. The rope simply is not tied.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just said he acts — that he enters the world age after age, that he works. Now he says the work leaves no mark. Not because he is careful, but because he wants nothing from it. The stain is not in the doing; it is in the wanting. Every act performed for a result leaves a residue, and the residue is what binds. Remove the hunger and the act passes through you like light through glass. Arjuna is being shown a way to fight that does not accumulate. Watch what you want from what you do. That is where the rope is tied.