18.17 Unstained, even in killing Krishna speaks

यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते
हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते

yasya nāhankṛito bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate
hatvā ‘pi sa imāl lokān na hanti na nibadhyate

One whose nature is free of the sense of being the doer, whose understanding is unstained, does not kill and is not stained, even in killing.

Explanation

Unstained, even in killing.

One free of the sense of being the doer, understanding unstained, does not kill and is not stained, even in killing.

This is the answer to 1.36 — only guilt would come to us — and it is the hardest sentence in the book. It should be read alongside 11.33's be only the instrument, and not softened.

Word by word

yasya: whose
na ahankṛitaḥ: free from the ego of being the doer
bhāvaḥ: nature
buddhiḥ: intellect
yasya: whose
na lipyate: unattached
hatvā: slay
api: even
saḥ: they
imān: this
lokān: living beings
na: neither
hanti: kill
na: nor
nibadhyate: get bound