नियतं सङ्गरहितम् अरागद्वेषतः कृतम् । अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत् तत् सात्त्विकम् उच्यते ॥
niyataṃ saṅga-rahitam arāga-dveṣataḥ kṛtam | aphalaprepsunā karma yat tat sāttvikam ucyate ||
Sāttvic karma: prescribed, attachment-free, without rāga-dveṣa, by one not seeking fruit.
Word by word (3)
- niyataṃ saṅga-rahitam arāga-dveṣataḥ kṛtam
- — prescribed/obligatory (niyatam = fixed/ordained), free from attachment (saṅga-rahitam = attachment-free), done without love and hatred (arāga-dveṣataḥ = without rāga and dveṣa) — three qualifying conditions for sāttvic karma
- aphalaprepsunā karma yat tat sāttvikam ucyate
- — by one not desirous of fruit (aphalaprepsunā = a + phala + prepsuna = non-fruit-desirer), whatever action (yat karma) — that (tat) is said/called (ucyate) sāttvic (sāttvikaṃ)
- arāga-dveṣataḥ
- — without rāga (attraction/love) and dveṣa (aversion/hatred) — the emotional neutrality of sāttvic karma; not cold or mechanical, but genuinely free from the push-pull of rāga-dveṣa that distorts action
Action that is prescribed, free from attachment, performed without love or hatred, by one who does not desire fruit — that is said to be sāttvic.
A modern analogy
Sāttvic karma is the firefighter who runs into the burning building without personal heroism (no rāga for glory) and without reluctance (no dveṣa for danger) — simply because this is what must be done (niyatam). No fruit-desire, no attachment to the outcome of the rescue. Pure duty in action.
V23 gives sāttvic karma — the fourth of the Gita's four-fold sāttvic classifications (after V20's jñāna, V17's actor, and V9's tyāga). The consistent sāttvic pattern is: prescribed (niyata/kāryam) + no fruit-attachment (aphalaprepsunā = aphalākāṅkṣin) + no emotional distortion (arāga-dveṣa/saṅga-rahita). V23's sāttvic karma is Ch.18's most concise restatement of the entire Gita's central teaching: Ch.2 V47's mā phaleṣu + Ch.3's niyataṃ kuru karma.
Arāga-dveṣataḥ (without love and hatred) is important: this does not mean the sāttvic actor is emotionally flat or indifferent. It means the emotional charge of personal desire and aversion does not distort the action. A parent who takes care of a sick child does so with love — but not with the rāga that would make them emotionally devastated by the child's suffering or inflated by the child's recovery. The action is emotionally clean: full engagement + freedom from distorting charge.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
An action which is ordained, which is free from attachment, which is done without love or hatred by one not desirous of the fruit, that action is declared to be Sattvic. [1]
MISSING from index. [4]
That action which is prescribed, which is free from attachment, which is performed without love and hatred by one who does not desire fruit from it, is said to be of the quality of goodness. [9]
The action which is prescribed by the scriptures, free from attachment, performed without desires and aversion, by one who longs not for its fruit, is said to be of the quality of goodness. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Renouncing ordained/niyata karma is not appropriate; its abandonment through delusion is declared tāmasic.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
Wise action without fruit-seeking breaks the birth-cycle and leads to the sorrowless state.
The tattva-vit sees gunas moving among gunas and does not become attached. Knowledge itself produces liberation.
Many, freed from attachment, fear, and anger, purified by knowledge-austerity — have attained My being.