Chapter 5, Verse 7
योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः | सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ||५-७||
yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ . sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate ||5-7||
Meaning
5.7 He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is ite pure, who has conered the self, who has subdued his senses and who realises his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting, is not tainted.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna paints the portrait of the perfected karma-yogi. Such a person has a vishuddha-atma — a thoroughly purified mind — has mastered the lower self, and governs the senses rather than being driven by them. The crowning quality is sarva-bhutatma-bhutatma: he sees his own Self as the Self in all beings.
From this vision flows a remarkable freedom: kurvann api na lipyate — 'though acting, he is not tainted.' Action no longer leaves karmic residue because there is no ego claiming it and no craving distorting it. When you recognize the same Self in everyone, action becomes service rather than self-assertion. This is the secret of being intensely engaged in the world yet utterly unstained by it — the very reconciliation of action and renunciation that Arjuna asked about.
💡 Key Takeaway
When you act with a pure heart and see the one Self in all beings, your work no longer binds you.
Related Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि | यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् ||५-१||
arjuna uvāca . saṃnyāsaṃ karmaṇāṃ kṛṣṇa punaryogaṃ ca śaṃsasi . yacchreya etayorekaṃ tanme brūhi suniścitam ||5-1||
5.1 Arjuna said Renunciation of actions, O Krishna, Thou praisest, and again Yoga. Tell me conclusively that which is the better of the two.
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.
संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः | योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ||५-६||
saṃnyāsastu mahābāho duḥkhamāptumayogataḥ . yogayukto munirbrahma nacireṇādhigacchati ||5-6||
5.6 But renunciation, O mighty-armed Arjuna, is hard to attain without Yoga; the Yoga-harmonised sage ickly goes to Brahman.