Sanskrit
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः । लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatram ivāmbhasā
Translation
He who acteth, placing all actions in the Eternal, abandoning attachment, is unaffected by sin as a lotus leaf by the waters.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter’s single most quoted image. Placing actions in Brahman, rather than claiming them as one’s own doing, plus abandoning attachment, is what keeps the yogi as unstained by action as a lotus leaf is unwetted by the water it floats on — the leaf’s surface repels water rather than absorbing it, an apt image for action that touches the doer without soaking in. It’s the same discipline chapter 2 states in its “your business is with the action only” formulation, here given its most memorable metaphor. Brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi — “depositing actions in Brahman” — anticipates BG 4.24’s collapse of every part of the act into Brahman: if the deed is already surrendered there, it has no doer to stain.
Study deeper
Word by word
- brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇiब्रह्मण्य् आधाय कर्माणि
- placing actions in Brahman (brahmaṇi + ādhāya + karmāṇi)
- saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥसङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः
- who acts abandoning attachment (saṅgam + tyaktvā + karoti + yaḥ)
- lipyate na sa pāpenaलिप्यते न स पापेन
- is not stained by sin (lipyate + na + saḥ + pāpena)
- padmapatram ivāmbhasāपद्मपत्रं इवांभसा
- like a lotus leaf by water (padma-patram + iva + ambhasā)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The lotus-leaf image is worth pushing on for its mechanism, not just its beauty: a lotus leaf doesn’t repel water by effort in the moment — its surface is simply built that way. Read literally, the simile suggests that placing action in Brahman and releasing attachment isn’t primarily a feat of willpower exercised each time action occurs, but a structural quality established once and then simply operative, the way the leaf isn’t straining against the water so much as never really meeting it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Don't measure your progress toward non-attachment by how hard you're fighting each urge in the moment — real progress looks more like the pull no longer landing at all, the way a lotus leaf isn't struggling against water, it just isn't wetted by it.
Professional
- When you stop being rattled by criticism or setbacks at work, notice whether that's white-knuckled restraint or an actual shift in how the input lands — the second is more durable, and it's usually built by sustained practice, not in-the-moment effort.
Family & Social
- If you want to stop taking a family member's comments personally, aim for a shift in how the comment lands rather than gritting your teeth through it each time — the goal is water rolling off, not a leaf straining against it.
Ask yourself
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