Chapter 5, Verse 10
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः | लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ||५-१०||
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ . lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatramivāmbhasā ||5-10||
Meaning
5.10 He who does actions, offering them to Brahman, and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus-leaf is not tainted by water.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna offers one of the Gita's most beloved images. The person who dedicates every action to Brahman (brahmani adhaya) and acts without attachment (sangam tyaktva) is untouched by sin, padma-patram iva ambhasa — like a lotus leaf upon water.
The lotus leaf rests on the pond yet remains dry; water rolls off it without soaking in. So too the karma-yogi lives fully in the midst of work, success, and worldly contact, yet none of it clings to the soul. The secret is the inner offering: when action is surrendered to the Divine rather than claimed by the ego, it leaves no binding residue. Attachment is the moisture that would otherwise stick; release it, and you move through the world unstained. This is the art of being in the world but not of it.
💡 Key Takeaway
Offer your actions to the Divine and let go of attachment — then live in the world untouched, like a lotus leaf on water.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | संन्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ | तयोस्तु कर्मसंन्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते ||५-२||
śrībhagavānuvāca . saṃnyāsaḥ karmayogaśca niḥśreyasakarāvubhau . tayostu karmasaṃnyāsātkarmayogo viśiṣyate ||5-2||
5.2 The Blessed Lord said Renunciation and the Yoga of action both lead to the highest bliss; but of the two, the Yoga of action is superior to the renunciation of action.
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति | निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ||५-३||
jñeyaḥ sa nityasaṃnyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati . nirdvandvo hi mahābāho sukhaṃ bandhātpramucyate ||5-3||
5.3 He should be known as a perpertual Sannyasi who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily set free from bondage.
नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् | पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ||५-८||
naiva kiñcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit . paśyañśruṇvanspṛśañjighrannaśnangacchansvapañśvasan ||5-8||
5.8 "I do nothing at all," thus would the harmonised knower of Truth think seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing.