Mokṣa-Sannyāsa Yoga · Verse 17

यस्य नाहङ्कृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते | हत्वाऽपि स इमाल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते

yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate | hatvāpi sa imāl lokān na hanti na nibadhyate

One whose emotional-being is not made of ego, whose intelligence is not stained — killing also these worlds, he does not kill nor is he bound.

Correct vision: na ahaṅkṛtaḥ bhāvaḥ — the sense of identity (bhāva) is not created by ahaṅkāra. There is no “I am the agent.”

Buddhiḥ na lipyate — the intelligence is not stained, not contaminated by result. Action without attachment is like writing on water. Hatvā api — even while killing (in just battle, by duty). Na hanti — he does not really kill (the ātman does not die). Na nibadhyate — he is not bound, does not generate karma.