Bhagavad Gita 5.10

brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi
sańgaḿ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ
lipyate na sa pāpena
padma-patram ivāmbhasā

Translation of Bhagavad Gita 5.10

One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.

Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

Here brahmani means in Krishna consciousness. The material world is a sum total manifestation of the three modes of material nature, technically called the pradhana. The Vedic hymns sarvam hy etad brahma (Mandukya Upanishad 2), tasmad etad brahma nama-rupam annam ca jayate (Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.10), and, in the Bhagavad-gita (14.3), mama yonir mahad brahma indicate that everything in the material world is a manifestation of Brahman; and although the effects are differently manifested, they are nondifferent from the cause. In the Isopanishad it is said that everything is related to the Supreme Brahman, or Krishna, and thus everything belongs to Him only. One who knows perfectly well that everything belongs to Krishna, that He is the proprietor of everything and that, therefore, everything is engaged in the service of the Lord, naturally has nothing to do with the results of his activities, whether virtuous or sinful. Even one’s material body, being a gift of the Lord for carrying out a particular type of action, can be engaged in Krishna consciousness. It is then beyond contamination by sinful reactions, exactly as the lotus leaf, though remaining in the water, is not wet. The Lord also says in the Gita (3.30), mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya: “Resign all works unto Me [Krishna].” The conclusion is that a person without Krishna consciousness acts according to the concept of the material body and senses, but a person in Krishna consciousness acts according to the knowledge that the body is the property of Krishna and should therefore be engaged in the service of Krishna.

Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

Moreover, he who, offering all his actions unto me, the Supreme Lord (brahmani), giving up attachment to actions, giving up false identification of “I am doing it”, performs actions, is not contaminated at all by any actions, of which some could be sinful. Papena here represents all actions, not just sinful ones.

Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:

5.10 On the other hand, again, one who is ignorant of the Truth and is engaged in Karma-yoga, yah, who; karoti, acts; adhaya, by dedicating, by surrendering; all karmani, actions; brahmani, to Brahman, to God; with the idea, ‘I am working for Him, as a servant does everything for his master’, and tyaktva, by renouncing; sangam, attachment, even with regard to teh resulting Liberation; sah, he; na lipyate, does not get polluted, is not affected; papena, by sin; iva, just as; padma-patram, a lotus leaf; is not ambhasa, by water. The only result that will certainly accrue from such action will be the purification of the heart.

Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:

One who has yoked themselves to the consciousness of being the doer of their actions cannot help being contaminated by the reactions to such actions and on account of this their mind remains impure and hence they are far adrift from renunciation and are in a grave predicament. Apprehending such a situation Lord Krishna explains that one who dedicates and consummates all actions as offerings to the Supreme Lord without attachment to rewards is not affected by sinful reactions which are most abominable on account of their binding power to material nature.

Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:

Whosoever is properly situated in the state of equanimity is not affected by reactions due to karma yoga or the prescribed Vedic actions they perform. This means one does not desire the rewards of their actions but instead dutifully offers the results of all their actions unto the Supreme Lord. For the purpose of emphasising the method of performing this spiritual practice and for the sake of removing any impression of casualness the subject of renouncing the rewards of one’s actions is reiterated again and again by Lord Krishna.

Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:

The question may arise that a person possessing the characteristics of the previous verse with a pure heart and controlled senses may be unaffected by reactions to actions; but how can those without such characteristics become unattached to desire for the rewards of actions. Lord Krishna answers this by instructing everyone to offer and dedicate all actions to the Supreme Lord. The desire for rewards of actions is the fundamental reason for all ego conceptions of being the physical body and the root cause of samsara or bondage in the cycle of birth and death which so viciously apprehends one. So desire for rewards should be immediately be given up so one will not be contaminated by sinful reactions.

Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:

5.10 On the other hand, again, one who is ignorant of the Truth and is engaged in Karma-yoga, yah, who; karoti, acts; adhaya, by dedicating, by surrendering; all karmani, actions; brahmani, to Brahman, to God; with the idea, ‘I am working for Him, as a servant does everything for his master’, and tyaktva, by renouncing; sangam, attachment, even with regard to teh resulting Liberation; sah, he; na lipyate, does not get polluted, is not affected; papena, by sin; iva, just as; padma-patram, a lotus leaf; is not ambhasa, by water. The only result that will certainly accrue from such action will be the purification of the heart.

Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:

5.7-11 Yogayuktah etc. upto atma-siddhaye. He, whose (by whom) Self is [realised to be] the Self of all beings, is not stained, eventhough he performs all [sorts of] actions. For, he has undertaken neither what is enjoined nor what is prohibited. Hence, even while performing actions such as seeing and the like, he bears in mind, -i.e., he resolves with [all] firmness of observation, – that ‘If the sense-organs like eyes etc., function on their respective objects, what does it matter for me ? Indeed one is not stained by what another does’. This act is nothing but dedicating one’s actions to the Brahman. In this regard the characteristic mark is his detachment. Due to that he is not stained. Because they do not have attachment, the men of Yoga perform actions only with their body etc., that are freed from attachment and do not depend on each other.

Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:

brahmany adhaya karmani
sangam tyaktva karoti yah
lipyate na sa papena
padma-patram ivambhasa

Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:

brahmaṇi — unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ādhāya — resigning; karmāṇi — all works; sańgam — attachment; tyaktvā — giving up; karoti — performs; yaḥ — who; lipyate — is affected; na — never; saḥ — he; pāpena — by sin; padma-patram — a lotus leaf; iva — like; ambhasā — by the water.