Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 8
नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्।
पश्यन् श्रृणवन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन् श्वसन्।।
पश्यन् श्रृणवन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपन् श्वसन्।।
naiva kiñcit karomīti yukto manyeta tattva-vit
paśyañ śṛṇvan spṛśañjighrann aśnangacchan svapañśvasan
also searched as "naiva kinchit karomiti yukto manyeta tattvavit"
Translation
The one who knows the truth and is devoted to yoga should think, "I am not doing anything," even though they are seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, and breathing.
Vāṇi's rendering
The knower of truth, even seeing, hearing, touching, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, thinks: I do nothing.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| एवeva | indeed, at all (naiva = na + eva) |
| किंचित्kiñcit | anything whatsoever |
| करोमिkaromi | I do |
| इतिiti | thus — marking the thought held |
| युक्तःyuktaḥ | the one joined, steady in yoga |
| मन्येतmanyeta | should think, should hold |
| तत्त्वtattva | the truth of a thing, its very thatness |
| वित्vit | knower |
| पश्यन्paśyan | seeing |
| शृण्वन्śṛṇvan | hearing |
| स्पृशन्spṛśan | touching (spṛśañ by sandhi) |
| जिघ्रन्jighran | smelling |
| अश्नन्aśnan | eating |
| गच्छन्gacchan | walking, going |
| स्वपन्svapan | sleeping |
| श्वसन्śvasan | breathing |
| प्रलपन्pralapan | speaking, talking on |
| विसृजन्visṛjan | letting go, releasing |
| गृह्णन्gṛhṇan | grasping, taking hold |
| उन्मिषन्unmiṣan | opening the eyes |
| निमिषन्nimiṣan | closing the eyes |
| अपिapi | even, also |
| इन्द्रियाणिindriyāṇi | the senses |
| इन्द्रियindriya | sense (in compound) |
| अर्थेषुartheṣu | among their objects |
| वर्तन्तेvartante | move, occupy themselves |
| इतिiti | thus — closing the held thought |
| धारयन्dhārayan | holding steadily in mind |
Frequently asked
Does this verse mean a wise person stops acting?
The opposite. Krishna names nine or more actions and stops none of them — seeing, eating, walking, grasping, even the blink of an eyelid. The body goes on doing everything it did before. What ends is the sense of being the author of it. Inaction is not the teaching; unclaimed action is.
How can someone honestly think "I do nothing" while eating and walking?
By noticing where the doing actually happens. The senses move among their objects, Krishna says — that is their nature, not your achievement. You did not decide to digest, or to hear the sound that reached you. Extend that same honesty outward, action by action, and the claim quietly loosens.
Isn't this a way of avoiding responsibility?
No, because nothing has been left undone. Responsibility means the work gets done well; what Krishna removes is the swelling of the doer around it. The one who says I do nothing is still the one who showed up, still the one whose hands did it. The work is unchanged. The pride and the burden are gone.
What does tattva-vit mean here?
The knower of the that-ness of a thing — one who sees what is actually happening rather than the story told about it. Such a person is called yuktaḥ, joined, steady. It is not a title earned by study. It is a way of watching your own hands work.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count the verbs. Seeing, hearing, touching, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing — Krishna lists the whole of an ordinary day and leaves nothing out. Nothing has stopped. The knower of truth has not withdrawn from the senses; the eyes still open, the hand still reaches. What has gone is one word: I. The doing continues, and the claim on it is dropped. This is why Krishna offers no dramatic renunciation here, only breathing. You will breathe six hundred times before this hour ends, and not once will you feel that you did it. Learn to eat that way. Learn to work that way.