Verse 9.9

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 9.9:

न च मां तानि कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय ।
उदासीन-वद् आसीनम् असक्तं तेषु कर्मसु ॥ ९ ॥

na ca māṃ tāni karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya |
udāsīna-vad āsīnam asaktaṃ teṣu karmasu || 9 ||

na–not; ca–since; mām–Me; tāni–these; karmāṇi–activities such as creation; nibadhnanti–bind; dhanañjaya–O Arjuna; udāsīna-vat–as if neutral; āsīnam–I am situated; asaktam–detached; teṣu karmasu–from these actions.

O Dhanañjaya, since I remain detached, like a neutral observer, from My actions such as creation, these actions cannot bind Me.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

The following question may be raised: “If You, like the living entity, perform action, why do You not become bound by it?” Śrī Bhagavān responds to this question with the present verse beginning with na ca. “It is only attachment to acts such as creation that cause bondage, but I am not attached. Being āptakāma, My every desire is satisfied.”

This is why Śrī Bhagavān says udāsīna-vat. “I remain indifferent to all acts such as creation, just as a person who is indifferent to others does not become involved in their miseries and lamentations.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

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

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “O Dhanañjaya, all these actions cannot bind Me. I remain detached from such actions, like one who is indifferent, although I am not actually so. Rather, I am always absorbed in My own spiritual bliss. Only My external potency (māyā) and the marginal potency (taṭasthā-śakti), both of which nourish My transcendental bliss, create various kinds of beings. I am not disturbed by this. Whatever actions the living entities perform under the influence of My external potency help to enliven My pure, spiritually blissful pastimes. Thus, My neutral attitude toward mundane activities is easily recognized.”