Bhagavad-gītā 18.9
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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kāryam
—
it is to be done
Gerundive of pure obligation. Not 'because I will benefit' or 'because I will suffer if I don't' — simply because it is the right thing. The motive collapses to bare duty.
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niyatam
—
prescribed
Echoes verse 7. The action is the same one that the tāmasa-renouncer abandons; here it is performed but emptied of saṅga and phala. Same act, opposite mode.
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saṅgam
—
attachment
The literal target of renunciation in the phrase saṅgam tyaktvā. Not the work and not the result — the *attachment* to both is what is dropped. The Gītā's surgical instrument applied again.
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sāttvikaḥ
—
in the mode of goodness
The destination of the three-fold analysis. This is the renunciation Kṛṣṇa wants Arjuna to enact — and through Arjuna, the reader.
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mataḥ
—
is held (in My opinion)
The verse closes with mataḥ — 'is My settled view.' Even after the formal classification, Kṛṣṇa reasserts the personal stamp. This is not abstract philosophy; it is the Lord's own judgment.
Prescribed duties must be performed with this mentality. One should act without attachment for the result; he should be disassociated from the modes of work. A man working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in a factory does not associate himself with the work of the factory, nor with the workers of the factory. He simply works for Kṛṣṇa. And when he gives up the result for Kṛṣṇa, he is acting transcendentally.
Performing the nitya-karma (niyataṁ karma) thinking “this should be done” while rejecting doership and desired results is called sattvic tyāga. It is understood here that the result of renouncing the fruits and not renouncing the action in this sattvic tyāga is knowledge.
As much as prescribed actions are done daily with the idea that they should be done (kāryam), they should be performed giving up identification as the doer (saṅgam) and giving up all the results (phalam). That type of renunciation is in the mode of goodness, since such awareness is in the mode of goodness.
This is what Krsna recommended in 8:6 when He said: "All these activities should be performed without attachment or any expectation of result. They should performed as a matter of duty, O son of Prtha, that is My opinion." And then Krsna, towards the end, describes the symptoms of one who renounced in goodness because this is what Krsna recommended: doing one's duty, externally and internally being detached.
Renunciation in the mode of goodness
LINK BETWEEN TEXTS 18.9 & 18.10:
Text 18.10 describes the symptoms of proper renunciation
18.9 कार्यम् ought to be done? इति thus? एव even? यत् which? कर्म action? नियतम् obligatory? क्रियते is performed? अर्जुन O Arjuna? सङ्गम् attachment? त्यक्त्वा abandoning? फलम् fruit? च and? एव even? सः that? त्यागः abandonment? सात्त्विकः Sattvic (pure)? मतः is regarded.Commentary A man of pure nature performs actions that have fallen to his lot in accordance with his capacity and his inherent nature. He is not filled with the pride that he is the performer of such actions nor does he hope for any gain therefrom.An ignorant man may think that the obligatory duties may produce their fruits for the performer by causing selfpurification and preventing the sin of omission or nonperformance. This sort of thinking and expectation of rewards also must be abandoned. Abandonment of the rewards of actions is praised in this verse.When a man does obligatory duties without agency and with unselfishness and egolessness his,mind is purified? his Antahkarana is prepared for the reception of the divine light or the dawn of Selfknowledge. He gradually becomes fit for devotion to knowledge (JnanaNishtha).The aspirant or seeker after liberation should be prepared to undergo physical sufferings. All acts of selfdiscipline and selfsacrifice entail physical suffering.This? again? is the central teaching of the Gita -- do your duty without attachment and selfish desires.
- Priya Valabha Mataji BG 18-09-10 Hindi
- Jitamitra Pr Hindi Comments - BG 18-09 - 2016-03-25 EOK
- Kratu Pr BG 18-09 Hindi - Sannyasi ka Dharma - 2015-04 Dubai
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 18-09 Tamil - 2018-05-14
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi BG 18-09 - 2021 Vrindavan
- Bhakti Vikas Sw BG 18-09 - Understanding and Applying Yukta Vairagya Part-03 - 2019-07-27 Zagreb
- PrahladAnS BG 18-09 - Krishna is owner of everything - 2017-03-18 ISKCON Slovenia
- Cultivate the sattvic formula: do duty because it must be done; release attachment and fruit.
- Trust this formula.
- Apply it consistently.
- Where does this formula fit in my actual work?
- What single act this week to test it?
A surgeon performs the operation because it must be done. He does not refuse out of squeamishness, nor does he linger to be admired for it. The scalpel moves with full skill; the credit and the consequences are left on the table. This is sāttvika-tyāga in one image.
Emperor Bharata — for whom Bhārata-varṣa is named — ruled the entire earth and performed every kingly duty because it was kāryam, simply that which must be done. He did not cling to the throne nor flee from it.
When the time came, he handed the kingdom to his sons and turned to bhakti. Duty performed because it ought to be performed; result and attachment both released. The Bhāgavatam holds him up as the very model of this verse.
My note
Source: vedabase.io