Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 10
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा।।
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा।।
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ
lipyate na sa pāpena padma-patram ivāmbhasā
also searched as "brahmanyadhaya karmani sangam tyaktva karoti yah"
Translation
He who acts without attachment, reposing all actions on Brahman (Prakṛti), is untouched by evil, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.
Vāṇi's rendering
Set your work in the eternal, act without clinging — sin slides off you like water off a lotus leaf.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ब्रह्मणिbrahmaṇi | in the eternal, in Brahman (sandhi: brahmaṇy + ādhāya) |
| आधायādhāya | having placed, having set down |
| कर्माणिkarmāṇi | actions, works |
| सङ्गम्saṅgam | attachment, clinging |
| त्यक्त्वाtyaktvā | having let go |
| करोतिkaroti | acts, does |
| यःyaḥ | who, whoever |
| लिप्यतेlipyate | is smeared, is stained |
| नna | not |
| सःsaḥ | he, that one |
| पापेनpāpena | by sin, by the residue of wrongdoing |
| पद्मpadma | lotus |
| पत्रम्patram | leaf |
| इवiva | like, as (sandhi: iva + ambhasā) |
| अम्भसाambhasā | by water |
Frequently asked
What does it mean to set your work in the eternal?
It means the work is not resting on you. You place it where it belongs — in what does not pass — instead of propping it up on your name, your gain, or how it will look. The hands still move. The weight sits elsewhere.
Why does Krishna use a lotus leaf and not something dry and distant?
Because the leaf is in the water, not away from it. Krishna is not teaching withdrawal. He is teaching a way of being fully in contact with life and still unstained by it.
Does this verse mean actions have no consequences?
No. Consequences unfold as they will. What changes is whether they leave a mark on you. Acting without clinging means no residue accumulates — the deed passes through instead of settling in.
How is this different from simply not caring?
Indifference withdraws attention; this verse asks for full attention with no grasping. The one who does not care does poor work. The one who does not cling does the work well and then lets it go.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
The lotus leaf is not held above the water. It floats on it, touching it everywhere, and stays dry. That is the image Krishna hands Arjuna, who wants to leave the field in order to stay clean. You do not get clean by leaving. You get clean by where you set the work down — in the eternal, not in the ledger of what it will bring you. Sin here is not a crime; it is residue, the film left behind when you act in order to become somebody. Set the work elsewhere and nothing sticks to you. Stay in the water. Come out dry.