Shloka 17
Moksha Sannyasa Yoga — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते । हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते ॥ १८.१७ ॥
yasya nāhaṃ-kṛto bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate | hatvāpi sa imāṃl lokān na hanti na nibadhyate || 18.17 ||
ผู้ใดไม่มีความรู้สึกว่า ‘เรากระทำ’ และปัญญาของผู้นั้นไม่ติดข้อง แม้เขาจะทำลายโลกเหล่านี้ (คือหมู่สัตว์) เขาก็มิได้ฆ่าโดยแท้ และมิได้ถูกผูกพัน
जिसका ‘मैं करता हूँ’ ऐसा भाव नहीं है और जिसकी बुद्धि लिप्त नहीं होती, वह इन लोकों को (अर्थात् प्राणियों को) नष्ट कर देने पर भी न तो (वास्तव में) मारता है और न बँधता है।
One who has no ego-sense of ‘I do,’ and whose understanding is not tainted—though he may be involved in acts that end lives within this worldly sphere—he does not (in the binding sense) kill, nor is he bound.
Traditional readings connect this to the Gītā’s broader argument about non-attachment and non-doership in a duty context; academic phrasing often clarifies that the claim concerns karmic/moral bondage and intention, not a license for harm. The language of ‘killing’ is treated here in its epic-historical setting and as a test case for agency and bondage.
FAQs
The verse links freedom from inner conflict to reduced egoic appropriation (“I am the sole doer”) and to a mind not ‘stuck’ to action through obsession, hatred, or pride.
It expresses a doctrine of non-binding action: when egoism and mental taint are absent, action does not generate the same binding karmic residue. The focus is on the structure of agency and identification.
In the epic setting, it addresses Arjuna’s moral crisis about warfare by reframing responsibility through the five-cause analysis and the critique of egoic doership, while maintaining the text’s emphasis on disciplined duty.
Read as guidance on ethical agency: act with responsibility and clarity, but avoid egoic self-justification or self-condemnation; the teaching is about intention, attachment, and mental purity—not endorsing harm.