4-14

न माम् कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्म फले स्पृहा ।
इति माम् योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ॥ १४ ॥

na mAm karmANi limpanti na me karma phale spRhA |
iti mAm yo'bhijAnAti karmabhirna sa badhyate || 14 ||

कर्माणि [karmANi] Actions माम् न लिम्पन्ति [mAm na limpanti] do not stick to Me. न मे [na me] I don’t have स्पृहा [spRhA] attachment कर्म फले [karma phale] towards the outcome of actions. इति माम् योऽभिजानाति [iti mAm yo'bhijAnAti] The person who knows Me in this way सः न बध्यते [saH na badhyate] will not be bound कर्मभिः [karmabhiH] by actions.

Activities such as creation don’t stick to Me- They do not bind Me. They are not sponsored by Me either. The diversity of creation, like the various gods and humans, happens due to the deeds committed by the created beings – deeds that are virtuous or otherwise. Thus, I’m not the one who made this variety of creation happen, with the disparity of wisdom among its various beings.

Given that the Lord is supreme, is He the One who traps us in short-term gratification?

Conscious beings and material objects are part of the Lord’s creation. Conscious beings experience matter using organs and bodies, created for that purpose. Their experience happens according to past deeds. Such deeds were driven by attachment towards experiences and results. These conscious beings have attachment to various deeds, such as the creation of something. I don’t have this attachment.

The Lord doesn’t trap us. We are trapped by our own expectations.

Sutrakara says it in this way: वैषम्य नैघृण्यो न सापेक्षत्वात् [vaiSamya naighRNyO na sApEkShatvAt] The Lord does not have any prejudice or mercilessness. They arise out of expectations that we have from our actions -
वेदान्त सूत्र [vedAnta sUtra] 2-1-34

Bhagavan Parashara says: ‘In the act of creating the world and its variety of different conscious beings, the Lord is the cause. Deeds committed in the past bring their influence. This is the instrument behind variety and inequality. Other than being the cause, the conscious being doesn’t expect anything else from the Lord. The conscious being is driven by the strength of its own deeds, committed in the material world since ancient times - विश्णु पुराण [vizNu purANa] 1-4-51,52.

The essence of these references follows-

The Lord just starts the creation of this variety of conscious beings. The reason for differentiation among various beings (like gods, humans, animals) is the influence of their past deeds. Hence, other than the Lord as the ultimate cause of all creation, a conscious being does not need anything external to obtain various forms. The influence of its own past deeds is enough to make it assume various forms.

Whoever knows me in this manner is not bound by his deeds. This person knows Me as the initiator of activities such as creation. At the same time, he knows that I don’t make the result of creation happen, that I don’t have attachment in their results. Such a person is freed from all obstacles in the way of working without attachments- he will be free from the influence of past deeds, which cause attachment towards the outcome of activity.

In summary, the Lord is not merciless or biased in the creation of varied conscious beings. The act of creation also does not stick to him as something that He has done. Nothing here contradicts the fact that He is the Lord of everything and controls everything. It’s just that He does not exercise his control indiscriminately. He permits things to happen according to the influence of the past deeds of a conscious being.