Gita : Ch-9. Slo-9.

Srimad Bhagavad-Gita :



Chapter-9.  ( Raja-vidya-raja-guhya-yogam )



Slokam-9.  (  O Arjuna, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached, seated as though neutral. )



na  ca  mam  tani  karmani   nibadhnanti   dhananjaya,



udasinavadasinam   asaktam   teshu    karmasu.



ca   =   but;

teshu   karmasu   =   in  those  activities;

asaktam   =   without   desire/attraction/attchment;

asinam   mam   =   keeping   away/not  affected   Me;

dhananjaya   =   hey  arjuna;

tani   karmani   =   those  activities;

na    nibadhnanti   =   not   affect  Me.



One should not think, in this connection, that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no engagement.

In His spiritual world He is always engaged.

In the Brahma-samhita it is stated :-

"He is always involved in His eternal, blissful, spiritual activities, but He has nothing to do with these material activities."

Material activities are being carried on by His different potencies.

The Lord is always neutral in the material activities of the created world.

This neutrality is explained here.

Although He has control over every minute detail of matter, He is sitting as if neutral.

The example can be given of a high court judge sitting on his bench.

By his order so many things are happening :-

 someone is being hanged, someone is being put into jail, someone is awarded a huge amount of wealth-but still he is neutral.

He has nothing to do with all that gain and loss.

Similarly, the Lord is always neutral, although He has His hand in every sphere of activity.

In the Vedanta-sutra it is stated that He is not situated in the dualities of this material world.

He is transcendental to these dualities.

Nor is He attached to the creation and annihilation of this material world.

The living entities take their different forms in the various species of life according to their past deeds, and the Lord doesn't interfere with them.



The seemingly complex diversities of creation never implicate the Supreme Lord Krishna nor do they indicate a charge of mercilessness against Him due to His being asaktam or unattached.

This is because the differences and all inequalities that exist in the demigods, humans, animals and plants lies in the fact that all jivas or embodied beings which are of a conscious and sentient nature have to account to the reactions of their past good deeds and misdeeds and hence their own actions determine such differences and inequalities.

Hence difference in dispensation and inequality in allocation is not to be prescribed from the Supreme Lord due to the fact that he understands such designations as the merits and demerits of a living entities own karma or reactions to previous actions. So He is completely indifferent and totally neutral in all respects.

If one were still to object that this conduct is not exemplary due to the lack of distinction between all atma's or souls at time of dissolution, it still is not a legitimate objection because all atma's are immortal and exist eternally and each and every one is accounted for.

Also non-distinction at the tim of dissolution is valid because names and forms were absent at the time and all atma's existed before creation and creation is without beginning as confirmed in Brahma Sutras II.I.XXXV beginning na karmavibhagad-iti-chet which clarifies this objection as not being valid because creation is without beginning.



Indifferent and neutral is what Lord Krishna is indicating by the word asaktam meaning unattached.

The Vedic scriptures declare the Supreme Lord is neither known by speech nor engaged in actions.

The Bhagavat Purana states :-

The elements, the performance of actions, time as well as the variegated attributes of all beings are due to His grace for without His grace nothing would exist.

The Supreme Lord causes the creation and dissolution of unlimited universes again and again continuously in regulated cyclic succession without any effort.

Understanding this how can He ever be attached to His actions.

This is the purport.

He never increases by creation or diminishes by dissolution while enacting His pastimes of performing any action.

Naturally the Supreme Lord who controls all actions can never be bound any action.



When the Supreme Lord initiates such actions as creation which appears at times to be unequal and unbalanced how is it that He is not bound by these actions like the jivas or embodied beings.

It is because He is udasinavad asinam or neutral and indifferent, because He is completely self-satisfied.

What Lord Krishna is also indicating is that one who is self content is unattached to the results of actions while one with attachment to actions is bound by such attachment and must accept the subsequent reactions.

If Lord Krishna was not neutrally disposed to all acts of creation, sustenance, preservation, dissolution, etc. then His doership could have some bias and not be equally justifiable for all.

The adjective asaktam meaning unattached denotes that the Supreme Lord is complete and fulfilled in all respects.




But then it could be wondered how is it that the Supreme Lord being responsible for so many diverse activities in creation is still not bound by them like the embodied souls.

Anticipating such a question Lord Krishna states that He is udasinavad asinam or situated in neutrality, so no actions can bind Him.

Attachment to the result of actions is what causes bondage.

The Supreme Lord has no such attachments being that He is complete possessing everything with nothing to desire.

Therefore the state of neutrality precludes indifference and does not lead to bondage.

Desire is incompatible with indifference and vice versa thus by neutrality one is not attached.

To  be  continued   ....