Chapter 18 Shloka 17

यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते।

हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते।।१७।।

One who is free of the idea ‘I am the doer’

and whose intellect is uninfluenced,

that one, despite killing all these people,

kills them not; nor is he fettered.

Chapter 18 Shloka 17

यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते।

हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते।।१७।।

Bhagwan says, “Arjuna listen carefully!”

One who is free of the idea ‘I am the doer’ and whose intellect is uninfluenced, that one, despite killing all these people, kills them not; nor is he fettered.

Look! The Lord has Himself proclaimed that ‘You are not the doer.’

The Jivan Mukta or the liberated soul

Here the Lord is speaking of the liberated soul:

1. One whose idea of doership is extinct.

2. Who is completely devoid of the intellect that identifies with the body-self.

3. One who is devoid of the body idea and the idea of being a participant, a partaker of sense objects, an enjoyer of sense objects.

4. One who is ever uninfluenced.

5. One who is indifferent towards his body, mind and intellect.

6. One who is devoid of attachment.

7. One who is an Atmavaan.

Little one, how can actions bind such a one? He performs all deeds, yet he is ever the non-doer. If you look closely, you will understand that such people:

a) put their entire reputation at stake for the other;

b) sacrifice their entire world for the other;

c) renounce their hearth and home for the sake of the other;

d) are prepared to stake their all if it be in the interest of the other.

But shall I tell you the truth? If one regards this from their point of view, one will understand that:

1. such a one is free of the mind;

2. such a one has no world of his own, nor hearth or home;

3. in fact, such a one has no claims on anyone.

When the body belongs to the Lord,

a) what is sacrificed is the Lord’s belonging;

b) what is received, is received by the Lord;

c) the heart that broke belonged to the Lord;

d) any love received was received by the Lord.

Such a one is ‘Sarva Bhoot Hite Ratah’ or one who eternally strives for the welfare of all beings. Because:

1. The owner of his body is not the ‘I’ – the world owns that body.

2. The Universal Law guides and impels that body.

3. Such a one is a servitor to whosoever claims any rights over him.

4. He is a God to whosoever worships Him.

When the body is no longer his, then:

a) no limb or organ of the body is his;

b) such a one has no attachment with the contents of his mind;

c) such a one is no longer attached to his likes and dislikes;

d) such a one is no longer attached to action nor to inaction;

e) he is not attached to superior or inferior action;

f) whatever he receives – renown or calumny, belongs to the body-self and the body is not his. So of what avail is attachment?

g) it matters not if someone obeys his intellectual advice or not – because he believes that even the intellect is not his. When even that attachment goes he becomes indifferent towards his own intellect.

How can such a one be attached to action? No action belongs to him. Doing all, he verily remains a non-doer. He kills, yet kills not because he is not fettered by attachment, nor his deed of killing. He is ever pure, devoid of aberration and blemishless. The proof of such a one’s state lies in his God-like life. He is duty incarnate. His entire life is a yagya or devotional offering to his Lord. He is entirely silent towards himself.

Here the Lord:

a) describes one who abides in the Self;

b) speaks of union with the Supreme;

c) speaks of mergence in the Supreme;

d) speaks of That Manifest One who is ever unmanifest;

e) speaks of that body-self which is devoid of ‘I’ – which is a divine fraction of and a manifestation of That Brahm;

f) speaks of the essence of the one who does not possess a body.

Seen from the latter’s point of view, he is ever unborn. If the ‘I’ is non-existent then how can that ‘I-less’ one possess a body? Nor does he have a mind or intellect which he claims as his own – what to say then of actions? When he has forgotten the ‘I’, why will he remember anything else as his own? When the body is not his, then whom can he call his own? Then whosoever comes before such a one, sees him as akin to himself. That One identifies completely with all.

1. The egoistic perceive him to be full of ego.

2. The humble witness his humility.

3. His knowledge elaborately mirrors whosoever stands before him.

4. He fulfils the obligations of whichever relationship the other chooses to have with him.

5. The body is not his – nor does he do anything from the point of view of the body-self.

6. The mind is not his – nor does he do anything for mental satiation.

7. The intellect is not his – he does naught from the point of view of intellectual establishment.

He simply fulfils the relationship the other expects of him. And how can this be difficult for such a one?

The body is not his, therefore:

a) Even if the body suffers a million hardships – what do these matter to him?

b) How does recognition or renown of his body-self matter to him?

c) Even if someone rejects or rebuffs the body-self, it does not matter to him.

The other finds in him whatever he seeks according to his own inner truth.

Little one, my very Self and aspirant of the Supreme path! Understand carefully what I explain now.

The mind

1. Such an elevated soul is devoid of any aberration – whatever imperfection we may perceive is due to our mental veils.

2. His mind identifies itself wherever it gets attached and assumes a similar form.

3. The attributes of sattva, rajas and tamas are attributes of the mind.

4. When the mind connects the Atma with the ‘I’ then man is left bereft of his essential being.

5. Then the world in fact has no meaning at all.

6. Only the Atma exists, all else is illusion – this is somewhat difficult for you to conceive. (You might understand this better in the context of silence – discussed in chapter 17, shloka 16)

7. The mind has a tremendous capacity to think.

8. The mind has an unlimited capacity to identify with another.

9. That which no one else can do, the mind can.

10. The mind can create the entire universe out of nothing.

11. Little one, the mind can do that which is in reality impossible.

12. The mind even has a capacity to show the Eternal Non-doer, the Atma, as the doer!

13. The mind also has a tremendous veiling or cloaking capacity.

The strange thing is that the mind itself is a ghost. It is merely a wisp of air – it is imagination devoid of any foundation. Yet it has the capacity to create this entirety.

Silence

Little one! The entire process of sadhana is practised only in order to silence the mind. However, it is exceedingly difficult to convince the mind and silence it.

Little one! When the mind is silenced:

1. The entire world loses its importance.

2. The differentiation between ‘I’ and ‘you’ becomes extinct.

3. Silence of the mind causes all veils and hindrances to disappear.

4. Silence of the mind erases all unnecessary thought processes.

5. Silence of the mind is self-forgetfulness.

6. Silence of the mind is abidance in the Self.

7. Silence of the mind is the constant state of one who abides in samadhi or is eternally absorbed in the Supreme.

8. Silence of mind characterises the one who has transcended all qualities and has become a gunatit.

9. It is also the state of the eternally liberated soul.

The Gita is the means towards silence of the mind. If despite performing all actions one’s mind remains completely silent, one will become a jivan mukta. There will remain no chance of being affected by anything.

When the Lord speaks of the one who, despite killing entire legions, kills none, He is speaking of that silent one, the mauni, who can never be affected or influenced!