Chapter XIII · Śloka 32
अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः ।
शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते ॥
शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते ॥
anāditvān nirguṇatvāt paramātmāyam avyayaḥ |
śarīra-stho'pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate ||
śarīra-stho'pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate ||
Being beginningless and devoid of guṇas, this imperishable supreme Ātman, though dwelling in the body, O son of Kuntī, neither acts nor is tainted.
The Ātman's freedom from action and karma is not a matter of withdrawal but of nature: being beginningless and beyond the guṇas, It can no more be stained by embodied experience than space can be stained by what passes through it.