Chapter 4, Verse 14
न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा | इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ||४-१४||
na māṃ karmāṇi limpanti na me karmaphale spṛhā . iti māṃ yo.abhijānāti karmabhirna sa badhyate ||4-14||
Meaning
4.14 Actions do not taint Me, nor have I a desire for the fruit of actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by actions.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna reveals the secret of His freedom in action, and offers it to us. Actions do not stain Him because He has no craving for their fruit (na me karmaphale spṛhā). It is not activity that binds, but desire for results. The Lord acts ceaselessly to sustain creation, yet remains untouched because He wants nothing for Himself.
Then comes the practical promise: whoever truly understands this — and lives by it — is likewise not bound by their actions. Here the cosmic principle becomes a personal path. We too can act in the world, even vigorously, without accumulating the inner chains of attachment, simply by releasing our grasping for outcomes. To know Krishna 'thus' is to internalize His secret: full engagement, zero clinging. This is the heart of karma-yoga.
💡 Key Takeaway
It is not action that binds us but craving for its fruits; act fully while letting go of the outcome, and you stay free.
Related Verses
अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन् | प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया ||४-६||
ajo.api sannavyayātmā bhūtānāmīśvaro.api san . prakṛtiṃ svāmadhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmyātmamāyayā ||4-6||
4.6 Though I am unborn, of imperishable nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet, governing My own Nature, I am born by My own Maya.
वीतरागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः | बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः ||४-१०||
vītarāgabhayakrodhā manmayā māmupāśritāḥ . bahavo jñānatapasā pūtā madbhāvamāgatāḥ ||4-10||
4.10 Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire of knowledge, many have attained to My Being.
काङ्क्षन्तः कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवताः | क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा ||४-१२||
kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṃ siddhiṃ yajanta iha devatāḥ . kṣipraṃ hi mānuṣe loke siddhirbhavati karmajā ||4-12||
4.12 Those who long for success in action in this world sacrifice to the gods; because success is ickly attained by men through action.