Bhagavad Gita 13.31
अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः। शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते॥
anāditvān nirguṇatvāt paramātmāyam avyayaḥ śarīra-stho 'pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate
Translation
Because of beginninglessness and absence of qualities, this supreme self, imperishable, though dwelling in the body, neither acts nor is stained.
Reflection
When something messy lands in the body, test this verse for one minute.
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Thirteen
Two reasons given, two conclusions follow. The supreme self is beginningless and beyond gunas. Therefore, even though it sits inside this very body, it neither does anything nor gets stained by what gets done. Na karoti, no doing. Na lipyate, no smearing. This is the deep claim that the akasha and surya analogies in the next two verses will illustrate. Sharira-stho api, though body-seated. The verse refuses the dualist's trick of placing the pure self elsewhere. The pure self is right here, in this body, untouched. The condition of the body, however bruised or beautiful, does not change what the self is. Today, when something messy happens in the body, test this verse for one minute.