Brahmany-adhaya Karmani

Krishna offers one of the Gita's most remembered images. Whoever offers all actions to Brahman and works without attachment — that person remains untouched by sin, just as a lotus leaf remains untouched by water.

Children know that the lotus grows in mud, lives in water — yet not a single drop stays on its surface. This is the yogi's nature. They live in the world, they work in the world, but the world does not stick to them.

This shloka captures the practical essence of Karma Yoga. The simile 'padma-patram-ivambhasa' is counted among the Gita's most beloved images. Tradition holds that detachment from the fruits of action is what protects a person from sin — not the renunciation of action itself.