Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 9
Bondage and Liberation Under Māyā; Two Birds Analogy; Marks of the Saintly Devotee
इन्द्रियैरिन्द्रियार्थेषु गुणैरपि गुणेषु च । गृह्यमाणेष्वहं कुर्यान्न विद्वान् यस्त्वविक्रिय: ॥ ९ ॥
indriyair indriyārtheṣu guṇair api guṇeṣu ca gṛhyamāṇeṣv ahaṁ kuryān na vidvān yas tv avikriyaḥ
An enlightened person who is free from the contamination of material desire does not consider himself to be the performer of bodily activities; rather, he knows that in all such activities it is only the senses, born of the modes of nature, that are contacting sense objects born of the same modes of nature.
Lord Kṛṣṇa makes a similar statement in Bhagavad-gītā (3.28) :
FAQs
This verse teaches that actions occur through the senses and the modes of nature, and the truly wise person does not identify as the doer—remaining steady as the unchanging self.
Kṛṣṇa is instructing Uddhava in self-realization and liberation: to see material activity as interactions of guṇas and senses, and to give up egoistic identification that binds one to karma.
Do your duties responsibly, but mentally offer results to the Lord and drop the ego-thought “I alone am the controller,” recognizing that body, mind, and circumstances move under nature’s modes.