यत् तु कामेप्सुना कर्म साहंकारेण वा पुनः । क्रियते बहुलायासं तद् राजसम् उदाहृतम् ॥
yat tu kāmepsunā karma sāhaṃkāreṇa vā punaḥ | kriyate bahulāyāsaṃ tad rājasam udāhṛtam ||
Rājasic karma: done desiring pleasures or with ego-pride, involving great effort.
Word by word (3)
- yat tu kāmepsunā karma sāhaṃkāreṇa vā punaḥ
- — but (tu) that action (karma) done by one who desires pleasures (kāmepsunā = kāma + epsunā = pleasure-desirer, from iṣ = to desire), or (vā) again with self-conceit/ego (sa-ahaṃkāreṇa = with egoism, with I-making) — two rājasic motivations: pleasure-desire or ego-pride
- kriyate bahulāyāsaṃ tad rājasam udāhṛtam
- — performed (kriyate) with much effort/labour/exertion (bahulāyāsam = many-effort, great toil), that (tad) is declared (udāhṛtam) rājasic (rājasam) — the third marker: bahulāyāsa (much effort) indicating the strained, striving quality of rājasic action
- kāmepsuna
- — one who desires kāma (pleasure/gratification) — the rājasic actor's primary motivation is pleasure-seeking; contrast with V23's aphalaprepsunā (non-fruit-desirer)
But that action which is done by one desiring pleasures, or done with egoism, involving great effort — that is declared rājasic.
A modern analogy
Rājasic karma is the entrepreneur who works 80-hour weeks driven by personal ambition — fueled by the desire for success (kāmepsuna), proud of their achievements (sa-ahaṃkāra), straining through great effort (bahulāyāsa). The action may look similar to the sāttvic actor's, but the motivation and inner state are entirely different: personal ego-investment and reward-seeking rather than duty-clarity and attachment-freedom.
V24 gives the rājasic karma — the contrast to V23's sāttvic. The three markers are: kāmepsunā (desire-motivated), sāhaṃkāreṇa (ego-driven), bahulāyāsa (great effort/strain). Each is the inversion of V23's qualities: kāma vs. aphalaprepsunā; ahaṃkāra vs. saṅga-rahita; bahulāyāsa vs. the natural ease of niyata-arāga-dveṣa action. The great effort (bahulāyāsa) of rājasic action is a symptom: when action is driven by ego-desire, it always requires MORE effort because it is working against the natural flow of dharma.
Sāhaṃkāreṇa (with egoism) is the deeper rājasic marker. Even if a rājasic person performs the right action (niyata karma), if they do it with ahaṃkāra ('I am the great doer'), it becomes rājasic and karma-binding. This connects V24 to V16's durmati (the deluded sole-doer): the rājasic actor's identity-investment in their actions is precisely the akṛta-buddhi consciousness that V16 identified as the root cause of false doership.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
But the action which is done by one longing for pleasures, or done by the egotistic, costing much trouble, that is declared to be Rajasic. [1]
But the action which is performed desiring desires, or with self-conceit and with much effort, is declared to be Rajasika. [4]
But that action which is done by one who is desirous of pleasures, or (done) by the egotistic, and which involves great effort, is pronounced passionate. [9]
But that action which is done with much labour by one who is desirous of pleasures or by one who is proud, is known to be of the quality of passion. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Rājasic dhṛti: holds fast to dharma, kāma, and artha with attachment, desiring the fruit of each.
Sāttvic kartā: attachment-free, non-egotistic, firm, enthusiastic, unmoved by success or failure.
The unattached-minded, self-conquered, desire-free one attains supreme naiskarmya-siddhi through sannyāsa.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Therefore: do your required action without attachment — this is the path that leads to the Supreme.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.