Bhagavad Gita 5.9 meaningFreedom while fully engaged
In simple wordsSo simple a child gets it
“They know their senses are just doing their job.”
What it means
“While speaking, letting go, holding on, even blinking, they know: it's the senses interacting with the world.”
The original Sanskrit
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥
pralapanvisṛjangṛhṇannunmiṣannimiṣannapi indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan
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
बोलता हुआ, त्यागता हुआ, ग्रहण करता हुआ तथा आँखों को खोलता और बन्द करता हुआ (वह) निश्चयात्मक रूप से जानता है कि सब इन्द्रियाँ अपने-अपने विषयों में विचरण कर रही हैं।
Swami Tejomayananda
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Commentaries
How great teachers across 1,200 years have explained this verse.
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Keep reading · 5.10“A person who acts while offering their work to the divine, without clinging, is untouched by wrong — like a lotus leaf in water that never gets wet.”