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na mAm karmANi limpanti.....

From the Bhakti List Archives

varadhan • August 12, 1998 


Sri. SrinivAsan writes

----begin quote
Bhagavaan KrshhNa says:

" na maam karmaaNi limpanti na me karma phale spruhaa |
  iti maam yaH abhijaanaati karmabhiH na saH badhyate || "

" There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for
the fruits of action.
One who understands this truth about Me also
 does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work."

------end quote

Our pUrvAchAryAs interpret the above slOkam differently.
karmabihi in the second line is interpreted to be
those karmAs that are a hEthu (enemy) to start karmayOga.


In the 12th slOka, Krishna says
'KaNkshantha: karmaNAm sidhdhim yajantha iha dhEvathA:
kshipram hi mAnushE lOkE sidhdhirbhavAti karmajA'

rough meaning - People in this world worship devathas like
Indra to obtain fruits of the karmas that they perform -
{yAgas, hOmams etc.. prescribed by shAstrAs to be performed
to dEvathAs like Indra that give a specific fruit when
performed like wealth, sons, daughters etc..}. They do this
because the fruits of such karmas are obtained in a short
period of time (kshipram - soon) on this earth.

The question (fear??) that might arise in our minds here is
'since the Lord Himself says that  everyone in this world
follow these karmas, is there a danger that the real
karmayOga as prescribed by the Lord will lose its pramANyam
because noone is following it'?
How will I start the real karma yOga if I am mired in these karmAs?

The Lord addresses such doubts in the next 2 slOkAs:

4.13:
chAturvarNYam mayA srushtam guNakarma vibHAGasha:
thasya karthAramapi mAm vidhdhi akarthAram avyayam

The world with the four varNas and guNas (like sathvam)
were created by Me.  Even though I am the
creator of those (the karthA), you will know me as
One who is unblemished by those activities.
{some of the possible blemishes that one might attribute to
creation are pakshapAdam and nairkruNyam -
pakshapAdam - partiality can be attributed because of
the inequalities among the chEtanAs
nairkruNyam - mercilessness can be attributed because
the chEtanAs undergo a lot of suffering}
The inequalities and the sufferings are caused by the karma
of the chEtana and cannot be attributed to the Lord.

4.14
na maam karmaaNi limpanti na me karma phale spruhaa
iti maam yaH abhijaanaati karmabhiH na saH badhyate

na mAm karmANi limpanti-
The karmAs referred here is *NOT* the conventional
puNya-pApa karma. The karmA referred here is the
creation that He talks about in the previous slOkam.
Here, He says that the creation does not bind Him
to the possible blemishes such as inequality and sufferings
among the chEtanAs. {limpa - smearing, covering}.
KrishNa says that He is the cause (karthA) of creation.
The inequalities and the sufferings among the chEtanAs
after His creation is a fruit of the chEtanA's karma.
So, He is akartha for these aspects.

na mE karmaphalE spruha-
Nor do I desire the fruits of the karmAs - After
My creation, it is the jIvAs that  perform karmAs
(towards some desire) that lead to puNyam or pApam.
The fruits of the karmAs that the jIvAs perform
is a fruit of their karmAs as prescribed by the
shAstrAs. {i.e. it is NOT some inequality of the Lord
in the karmaphalAs that the jIvAs get for their karmAs}.

iti mAm yOabhijAnAthi -
One who understands  this well

sa: karmabhi: bhadyathE-
he will not be bound by the karmAs
{i.e. not bound by the karmAs that are towards the dEvathAs
etc.. that are a hEtu to the jIva beginning the real karma yOga
as prescribed by the Lord}


AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam,
adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,
Thirumalai Anandanpillai Varadhan