Attachment, not action, creates bondage.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
न च मां तानि कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय |उदासीनवदासीनमसक्तं तेषु कर्मसु ||९-९||
na ca māṃ tāni karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya . udāsīnavadāsīnamasaktaṃ teṣu karmasu ||9-9||
Use this verse before high-stakes work.
Meaning
These actions do not bind Me, O Dhananjaya. I remain detached, as if indifferent, unattached to those actions.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Action does not bind Krishna because He is unattached.
Word-by-word meaning
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Explanation
Krishna creates and sustains without egoic attachment. This becomes a model for Karma Yoga: act fully, stay inwardly free.
Read the traditional commentary
If the Divine creates and dissolves universes endlessly, does this immense activity bind him? Krishna answers: no. These works do not fetter him, for he abides like one udasina — seated as a detached witness, asakta, wholly unattached to the deeds. The Lord acts without the sense of personal stake that turns action into bondage.
This is the great secret of karma-yoga, now shown at cosmic scale. It is not action that binds, but attachment to its fruits and the ego's claim of doership. The Divine is the supreme model: perfectly active, yet perfectly free.
For Arjuna, and for us, the lesson is intimate — we too can engage fully in the world's work while resting inwardly as a calm witness, letting our deeds flow without clinging to them.
In daily life
Do intense work without emotional slavery to results.
A founder can work hard without becoming owned by metrics.
Try this today
Name one result you will release today.
I act fully and remain unattached.Reflect
Where is action binding me through attachment?
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Quick check
What does ‘तेषु कर्मसु’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on karma yoga, in other chapters
- Verse 4.14It is not action that binds us but craving for its fruits; act fully while letting go of the outcome, and you stay free.
- Verse 13.30Recognise that nature performs all your actions while your true Self merely witnesses — and the burden of doership falls away.
- Verse 14.22The free soul neither resists unpleasant states nor chases pleasant ones — it meets all the mind's weather with equal calm.
- Verse 18.17When the ego and attachment fall away, even necessary hard duties leave no binding stain on the soul.
Swipe left for 9.10 · Divine order guides nature.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 9.9
Who says Bhagavad Gita 9.9, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 9.9, in Chapter 9, Raja Vidya Yoga (Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 9.9 mean?
These actions do not bind Me, O Dhananjaya. I remain detached, as if indifferent, unattached to those actions. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 9.9 for daily life?
Do intense work without emotional slavery to results. A founder can work hard without becoming owned by metrics.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 9.9 mean?
न च माम् — and Me not; तानि कर्माणि — those actions; निबध्नन्ति — bind; धनञ्जय — O Dhananjaya (Arjuna); उदासीनवत् आसीनम् — seated as one indifferent.
Where does verse 9.9 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 9 of 34 in Chapter 9, Raja Vidya Yoga. The next verse is 9.10.