Chapter 5, Verse 8
नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् | पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ||५-८||
naiva kiñcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit . paśyañśruṇvanspṛśañjighrannaśnangacchansvapañśvasan ||5-8||
Meaning
5.8 "I do nothing at all," thus would the harmonised knower of Truth think seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna now reveals the inner stance of the realized one. Even as he sees, hears, touches, eats, walks, sleeps, and breathes, the tattva-vit — the knower of Truth — holds the calm conviction: 'I do nothing at all.' This is not denial of the body's activity but a deeper understanding of who the real 'I' is.
The Self (atman) is pure awareness, the silent witness; it is the senses contacting their objects, prompted by nature's energies (gunas), that perform all activity. The wise one no longer identifies the witnessing Self with these bodily processes. By withdrawing the false sense of 'I am the doer,' action continues effortlessly while the heart rests in stillness. This witnessing awareness is the very root of egoless action — the doer dissolves, yet the deed flows on perfectly.
💡 Key Takeaway
Rest in the witnessing Self: let life's activities flow while inwardly knowing 'I am not the doer.'
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.
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि | इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ||५-९||
pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi . indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan ||5-9||
5.9 Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects.