Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Chapter 5: Karma-yoga — Action in Krishna Consciousness |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 5.11
kevalair indriyair api
SYNONYMS
kāyena — with the body; manasā — with the mind; buddhyā — with the intelligence; kevalaih — purified; indriyaih — with the senses; api — even; yoginah — Krishna conscious persons; karma — actions; kurvanti — they perform; sańgam — attachment; tyaktvā — giving up; ātma — of the self; śuddhaye — for the purpose of purification.
TRANSLATION
The yogīs, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification.
PURPORT
When one acts in Krishna consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Krishna, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Krishna conscious person. Therefore purified activities, which are generally called sad-ācāra, can be easily performed by acting in Krishna consciousness. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmrita-sindhu (1.2.187) describes this as follows:
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
"A person acting in Krishna consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Krishna) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities." He has no false ego, for he does not believe that he is this material body, or that he possesses the body. He knows that he is not this body and that this body does not belong to him. He himself belongs to Krishna, and the body too belongs to Krishna. When he applies everything produced of the body, mind, intelligence, words, life, wealth, etc. — whatever he may have within his possession — to Krishna's service, he is at once dovetailed with Krishna. He is one with Krishna and is devoid of the false ego that leads one to believe that he is the body, etc. This is the perfect stage of Krishna consciousness.
Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness