Unstained Like the Lotus
Live fully in the world, yet stay untouched by it — like a lotus rooted in mud, blooming clean above the water.
He answered: 'This' (repeating some of what they had told him). The teacher said: 'My friend, they have taught you about the worlds, but I shall tell you this; and as water does not cling to a lotus leaf, so no evil deed clings to one who knows it.' He said: 'Sir, tell it me.'
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा।।5.10।।
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ lipyate na sa pāpena padma-patram ivāmbhasā
He who does actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning attachment, is not tainted by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not tainted by water.
Common thread
Be in the water, but let no drop cling. Action without attachment leaves no stain.
Echo
Chandogya's “as water clings not to a lotus leaf,” Gita 5.10's “untouched as a lotus leaf by water,” and the Guru's “detached, like the lotus upon the water” are one single picture.
📖 A story to understand
After years of wandering, Guru Nanak settled at Kartarpur and lived as an ordinary farmer — tilling the soil, raising a family, sharing meals from his own honest labour. He showed there is no need to flee to caves or forests to find God: live rooted in the world's mud like the lotus, yet bloom untouched above its waters.
Traditional sakhi / story (simplified retelling)