Verse 5.10

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 5.10:

ब्रह्मण्य् आधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः ।
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्म-पत्रम् इवाम्भसा ॥ १० ॥

brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ |
lipyate na sa pāpena padma-patram ivāmbhasā || 10 ||

brahmaṇi–to Me, the Supreme Lord; ādhāya–having offered; karmāṇi–his activities; saṅgam–attachment (to the fruit of action); tyaktvā–giving up; karoti–acts; yaḥ–who; lipyate–affected; na–not; saḥ–he; pāpena–by sin; padma-patram–the lotus leaf; iva–as; ambhasā–by water.

One who has renounced attachment to the fruit of action and offers that fruit to Me, the Supreme Lord, does not become affected by sin, just as a lotus leaf remains untouched by water.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“A person who gives up attachment to the fruits of his prescribed duty does not become bound by any action if he dedicates his work to Me, the Supreme Lord, even while he still has a false ego.” Here the word pāpa (sin) is used to indicate that such a person does not become implicated in any sinful action.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The pure soul has no con-nection with material activities. Niṣkāma-karma-yogīs become endowed with transcendental knowledge as their heart is gradually purified. They then realize the nature of the self and understand that even when they perform bodily activities, they are not the doers. They think that according to their impressions from previous births, all the activities of the material body are automatically performed by the inspiration of the Lord. Due to the existence of the material body, they may feel that they themselves are the performers of action, yet when they give up the body after attaining perfection, the feeling that they are the doers of action does not remain. They are unable to perform any action that binds them to the material world.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said, “When the sādhaka gives up the false ego of being the doer, he performs all bodily related activities naturally, out of habit.”