Bhagavad Gita 5.8 meaningFreedom while fully engaged
In simple wordsSo simple a child gets it
“Wise people feel, ‘It’s not really me doing it,’ even while they see, walk and breathe.”
What it means
“A person who knows the truth feels, ‘I am not really the doer,’ even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping and breathing.”
The original Sanskrit
नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् । पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥
naiva kiñcitkaromīti yukto manyeta tattvavit paśyañśruṇvanspṛśañjighrannaśnangacchansvapañśvasan
Translations
Literal translation
Remaining absorbed in the Self, the knower of Reality should think, 'I certainly do not do anything', even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing, speaking, releasing, holding, opening and closing the eyes-remembering that the organs function in relation to the objects of the organs.
Swami Gambhirananda
हिंदी अनुवाद
तत्त्ववित् युक्त पुरुष यह सोचेगा (अर्थात् जानता है) कि "मैं किंचित् मात्र कर्म नहीं करता हूँ" देखता हुआ, सुनता हुआ, स्पर्श करता हुआ, सूंघता हुआ, खाता हुआ, चलता हुआ, सोता हुआ, श्वास लेता हुआ,।
Swami Tejomayananda
Go deeper
Commentaries
How great teachers across 1,200 years have explained this verse.
Loading commentaries…
Keep reading · 5.9“While speaking, letting go, holding on, even blinking, they know: it's the senses interacting with the world.”