मुक्तसङ्गो ऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर् निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥
mukta-saṅgo 'nahaṃvādī dhṛty-utsāha-samanvitaḥ | siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate ||
Sāttvic kartā: attachment-free, non-egotistic, firm, enthusiastic, unmoved by success or failure.
Word by word (3)
- mukta-saṅgo 'nahaṃvādī dhṛty-utsāha-samanvitaḥ
- — freed from attachment (mukta-saṅga = attachment-freed), not declaring I (anahaṃvādī = a + aham + vādī = non-I-proclaimer, non-egotistic), endued with/accompanied by (samanvitaḥ) firmness/fortitude (dhṛti) and enthusiasm/energy (utsāha) — four positive qualities of the sāttvic kartā
- siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate
- — unaffected/unchanged (nirvikāraḥ = without modification) in success (siddhi) and failure/non-success (a-siddhi), the agent/actor (kartā) is said/called (ucyate) sāttvic (sāttvika) — the defining quality: equanimity in success-failure
- anahaṃvādī
- — non-I-proclaimer; one who does not assert 'I did this' or identify as the special doer; the sāttvic actor acts without ahaṃkāra (I-making); contrast with V24's sāhaṃkāreṇa (rājasic actor)
An agent who is free from attachment, non-egotistic, endued with firmness and enthusiasm, unaffected in success or failure — is called sāttvic.
A modern analogy
The sāttvic kartā is like a skilled surgeon — fully engaged, energetic (utsāha), steady (dhṛti), not personally attached to the procedure's outcome, not claiming credit if it goes well, not collapsing if it goes badly. The work is done at the peak of ability and focus, without the distortion of personal ego or result-anxiety.
V26 gives the sāttvic kartā — the third member of each guṇa-trio (jñāna V20-22; karma V23-25; kartā V26-28). The sāttvic actor's portrait is the karma-yoga actor of the entire Gita: no saṅga (attachment), no ahaṃkāra (ego-claim), steady (dhṛti), energetic (utsāha), equanimous in success-failure (nirvikāra). This is the Gita's answer to the question: what does a realized/detached actor actually LOOK like in action? Not passive or withdrawn, but fully present and engaged — just without the distorting overlay of personal ego and result-craving.
Anahaṃvādī (non-I-proclaimer) is the behavioral corollary of V17's nāhaṃkṛto bhāva (no I-made-ness consciousness). V17 was the ontological description; V26 is the visible behavioral signature. The sāttvic actor does not announce 'I did this' because internally the sense of being a special separate doer is absent. This is not false modesty — it is accurate perception of the five-cause framework (V13-15: the self is not the sole cause of any action).
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Free from attachment, not given to egoism, endued with firmness and vigour, unaffected in success and failure, an agent is said to be Sattvic. [1]
An agent who is free from attachment, non-egotistic, endued with fortitude and enthusiasm, and unaffected in success or failure, is called Sattvika. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
Free from attachment, who never speaks of himself, who is endued with constancy and energy, and is unmoved by success and defeat, is said to be of the quality of goodness. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Whatever action a person initiates with body, speech, and mind — right or the reverse — these five are its causes.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Acting for reward is the lowest form of action. Seek the wisdom that transcends reward-seeking.
All actions free from desire and intention; karmas burned by jñāna's fire — the wise call this one paṇḍita.
Sattva — luminous and stainless — yet binds the jīva through attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge.
Rājasic karma: done desiring pleasures or with ego-pride, involving great effort.