Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.33.32
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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nirahaṅkāriṇām
—
of those who are free from false ego
Nis (without) + ahaṅkāra (false ego) + in (possessor). The deepest reason given in this section: deeds bind only the ego that claims them. Gauḍīyas: Bhagavān has no ahaṅkāra at all; His īśvaras, by His grace, have surrendered it. Hence no anartha-bondage.
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sva-arthaḥ
—
selfish benefit
Sva (own) + artha (purpose). Selfish purpose. Gauḍīyas: even the īśvara's good deeds do not accrue 'merit' to him — there is no separate self to merit accrues to. This is the principle, not a permission slip.
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anarthaḥ
—
undesirable reactions
An (not) + artha (purpose) — here in the sense 'damage, harm, evil result.' Gauḍīya technical term: anartha = the unwanted accumulations on the soul. Free from ego = free from anartha-formation. The verse defines the goal of all sādhana incidentally.
Another version has iha cārtho na vidyate: there is not gain for the self in this world or the next (ca). The word vā indicates the same sentence structure as the previous statement. When they act in a contrary manner still there is no fault (the negative is understood). They are devoid of ahaṅkāra, with no contamination by the act. You are capable of understanding (prabho). Or, you are also in the category of īśvara. O lord (prabho)!
- Where are you confusing freedom of action with freedom from ego?
- What 'pious' act of yours is secretly serving a selfish motive?
A person without ego acts from love; he gains nothing from pious deeds, loses nothing from acts that would damage others. The self he might injure or aggrandize has been dissolved already. So with the īśvaras whose ahaṅkāra has burned away — the categories of merit and demerit slide off them.
Bhīṣma fought for the wrong side, killed his own grandsons, kept dharma's most painful vows. Yet on the bed of arrows he received Kṛṣṇa's full darśana and his Bhīṣma-stuti became canonical scripture. His apparent ill-deeds did not bind him because his ahaṅkāra was given to Kṛṣṇa long before.
Gauḍīyas use Bhīṣma as the standard exemplar of v.32: nirahaṅkāra makes deeds non-binding. It is not that the īśvara is permitted to sin; it is that the ego in which sin lodges is already absent.
My note
Source: vedabase.io