Chapter XVIII · Śloka 17
यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते ।
हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते ॥
हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते ॥
yasya nāhaṃkṛto bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate |
hatvāpi sa imāṃl lokān na hanti na nibadhyate ||
hatvāpi sa imāṃl lokān na hanti na nibadhyate ||
One whose sense of doership is free from ego, whose intellect is not tainted — even having slain these people, he does not slay and is not bound.
This celebrated verse states the paradox of ego-free action: without the ahaṃkāra claiming authorship, no karmic pollution adheres. The act and the fruit belong to nature; the realized being remains untouched.