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BG 18.23

नियतं सङ्गरहितमरागद्वेषतः कृतम्
अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत्तत्सात्त्विकमुच्यते

niyataṃ saṅgarahitam
arāgadveṣataḥ kṛtam
aphalaprepsunā karma
yat tat sāttvikam ucyate

SYNONYMS

niyatam: obligatory act | saṅga-rahitam: without attachment | arāga-dveṣataḥ: without desire or aversion | kṛtam: done | aphala-prepsunā: by one who seeks no fruit | karma: act | yat: that which | tat: that | sāttvikam: Sattvika | ucyate: is said |

TRANSLATION

That obligatory act is said to be Sattvika which is done without attachment, without desire or aversion, by one who seeks no fruit.

PURPORT

‘Obligatory act’ is that which is appropriate to one’s own station and stage of life. Doing it ‘without attachment’ means devoid of attachment to agency etc., and ‘without desire or aversion’ means that it is not done through desire to win fame and aversion to win notoriety, i.e., is performed without ostentation—when obligatory works are performed in the above-mentioned way by one who is not after their fruits, they are said to be Sattvika.