Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 13, Verse 32
Verse 32
The Yoga of the Field and the Knower of the Field
Being beginningless and transcendent of the Gunas, O Arjuna, the imperishable Supreme Self — even though dwelling in the body — neither acts nor is tainted.
Context & Meaning
The supreme Self, even while dwelling in a body, neither acts nor is touched by anything that happens in that body. This is the key to the entire teaching of non-doership: the witness is always untouched. Beginningless (anādi), beyond the qualities of Prakriti (nirguṇa), imperishable (avyaya) — the Paramātman has these three qualities that are the opposite of the field's characteristics. And because of these qualities, dwelling in the body is not the same as being of the body. The lamp illuminates a room without being made of the room.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainRamanujacharya
VishishtadvaitaNa karoti na lipyate — neither acts nor is tainted. The supreme Self's transcendence of action does not mean it is indifferent to the world — God sustains and pervades all things. But it does mean God is never diminished, corrupted, or bound by what happens in the world. This is the divine freedom that the devoted soul aspires to share.