Ego-free dharmic action does not bind like selfish action.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते |हत्वाऽपि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते ||१८-१७||
yasya nāhaṃkṛto bhāvo buddhiryasya na lipyate . hatvā.api sa imā.Nllokānna hanti na nibadhyate ||18-17||
Use this verse only with dharma, humility, and non-hatred.
Meaning
One who has no egoic sense of doership and whose understanding is not tainted, even if involved in slaying these people, neither truly slays nor is bound.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
A person free from egoic doership and tainted intention is not bound by action done in dharma.
Word-by-word meaning
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Explanation
This verse belongs to the specific Kurukshetra dharma-yuddha context and must not be used to justify harm. Its inner teaching is that ego-free, dharma-aligned action without selfish motive does not bind like ego-driven action.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna pushes the teaching to its boldest edge. The one free of the ahankara, the I-am-the-doer notion, whose buddhi is untainted by attachment, is not bound even by an act as grave as killing in righteous battle. Acting without ego, he 'slays not' in the deepest sense and gathers no binding karma.
This is not a license for recklessness but a description of perfect inner purity. The deed is performed as duty, with no personal craving, hatred, or sense of ownership behind it. When the ego is silent, action flows from a higher order and leaves no stain. It is the inner motive, not the outer deed alone, that binds or frees the soul.
In daily life
Purify motive before difficult action.
A judge, doctor, or leader may need to take difficult action without hatred, ego, or selfishness.
Try this today
Before a hard decision, check motive, duty, and harm-minimization.
I seek ego-free action aligned with dharma.Reflect
Is my difficult action free from ego, hatred, and selfish motive?
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Quick check
What does ‘न अहंकृतः भावः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on karma, in other chapters
- Verse 4.37Just as fire turns wood to ash, the fire of true knowledge burns away the binding power of all our actions.
- Verse 9.9Action binds us only through attachment; work fully yet rest inwardly as a witness, and you remain free.
- Verse 13.10Love your people and possessions with open hands, keeping an even mind through both fortune and loss.
- Verse 14.22The free soul neither resists unpleasant states nor chases pleasant ones — it meets all the mind's weather with equal calm.
Swipe left for 18.18 · Action begins in perception and completes through execution.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 18.17
Who says Bhagavad Gita 18.17, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 18.17, in Chapter 18, Moksha Sannyas Yoga (Moksha Sannyas Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 18.17 mean?
One who has no egoic sense of doership and whose understanding is not tainted, even if involved in slaying these people, neither truly slays nor is bound. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 18.17 for daily life?
Purify motive before difficult action. A judge, doctor, or leader may need to take difficult action without hatred, ego, or selfishness.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 18.17 mean?
यस्य — he whose; न अहंकृतः भावः — state free from egoism; बुद्धिः यस्य — whose intellect; न लिप्यते — is not tainted; हत्वा अपि — even though he slays.
Where does verse 18.17 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 17 of 78 in Chapter 18, Moksha Sannyas Yoga. The next verse is 18.18.