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Chapter 4 · Transcendental Knowledge · 42 verses

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Duty & actionChapter 4 · Transcendental Knowledge
4.134.15

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 4.14

Action without fruitive bondage

न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा ।

इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ॥ १४ ॥

na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti

na me karma-phale spṛhā

iti māṁ yo ’bhijānāti

karmabhir na sa badhyate

Translation

There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

The Lord Is Beyond Karma

  1. 1The Lord is unaffected by work and does not desire its rewards. One who understands this is also free from work’s binding reactions.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that the Lord provides facilities for action, but living beings are responsible for their own acts and their results.
  3. 3Seek to understand the Lord’s spiritual nature. One who truly knows Him is liberated and firmly fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 4, Transcendental Knowledge: action without fruitive bondage.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Act dutifully without attachment to fruits.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 4.14 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to duty & action?

Practice

Do one task today purely because it is right.

4

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 4.12Action without fruitive bondageBG 4.13Action without fruitive bondageBG 2.47Responsibility without ownership of outcomesBG 3.21Leadership by example

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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Ask about BG 4.14 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.