Shloka 9
Viśvarūpa-darśana (The Vision of the Universal Form) — महायोगेश्वरस्य विश्वरूपदर्शनम्
सम्बन्ध-- इस प्रकार जगत्-रचनादि समस्त कर्म, करते हुए भी भगवान् उन कर्मोके बन्धनमें क्यों नहीं पड़ते, अब यही तत्त्व यमझानेके लिये भगवान् कहते हैं-- नच मां तानि कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनंजय । उदासीनवदासीनमसक्तं तेषु कर्मसु,हे अर्जुन! उन कर्मोमें आसक्तिरहित और उदासीनके सदृश स्थित मुझ परमात्माको वे कर्म नहीं बाँधते5 इति श्रीमहाभारते भीष्मपर्वणि श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतापर्वणि श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशाम्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादे राजविद्याराजगुह्युयोगो नाम नवमो<थध्याय:
na ca māṁ tāni karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya | udāsīna-vad āsīnam asaktaṁ teṣu karmasu ||
O Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), those actions do not bind Me. Though I engage in ordering and sustaining the world, I remain like one indifferent—seated within, unattached to those actions. The ethical point is that bondage arises from clinging and self-interest, not from action itself; the divine model is action without possessiveness or ego.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Action becomes bondage when driven by attachment, ego, and possessiveness. The Lord presents Himself as the paradigm of acting without clinging—remaining inwardly unattached—thereby showing how one may act in the world without being fettered by karma.
In the Bhīṣma Parva dialogue on the battlefield, Kṛṣṇa explains to Arjuna why divine activity—such as sustaining and governing the cosmos—does not create karmic bondage for Him: He acts without personal attachment, like a witness, and thus remains untouched by the binding effects of action.