Bhagavad Gita 18.27
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 27 of 78
रागी कर्मफलप्रेप्सुर् लुब्धो हिंसात्मको ऽशुचिः । हर्षशोकान्वितः कर्ता राजसः परिकीर्तितः ॥
rāgī karma-phala-prepsur lubdho hiṃsātmako 'śuciḥ | harṣa-śokānvitaḥ kartā rājasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ ||
Rājasic kartā: passionate, fruit-desiring, greedy, cruel-natured, impure, subject to elation and sorrow.
Word by word (3)
- rāgī karma-phala-prepsur lubdho hiṃsātmako 'śuciḥ
- — passionate/attached (rāgī = one with rāga), desiring to attain the fruit of action (karma-phala-prepsur = karma-phala + prepsur = wanting-to-obtain), greedy (lubdha), having a cruel/violent nature (hiṃsātmaka = hiṃsā + ātmaka = violence-natured), impure (aśuci) — five negative qualities
- harṣa-śokānvitaḥ kartā rājasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
- — affected by/accompanied with (anvitaḥ) joy/elation (harṣa) and grief/sorrow (śoka), the agent/actor (kartā) is proclaimed (parikīrtitaḥ = fully-declared) rājasic (rājasaḥ) — the sixth quality: emotional oscillation between elation and dejection
- harṣa-śoka
- — elation-and-sorrow; the emotional signature of rāga-based action — when the desired fruit arrives there is elation (harṣa), when it fails there is sorrow (śoka); contrast with V26's nirvikāra (unchanged) in success-failure
The agent who is passionate, desirous of the fruits of action, greedy, violent-natured, impure, subject to joy and sorrow — is proclaimed rājasic.
A modern analogy
The rājasic kartā is the overly ambitious manager — attached to results (karma-phala-prepsur), greedy for recognition (lubdha), elated when deals close and miserable when they don't (harṣa-śoka), not above cutting ethical corners (hiṃsātmaka), impure in means (aśuci). The driving force is personal desire, and all six qualities flow naturally from that root rāga.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Passionate, desiring to attain the fruit of action, greedy, cruel, impure, subject to joy and sorrow, such an agent is said to be Rajasic. [1]
He who is passionate, desirous of the fruits of action, greedy, malignant, impure, easily elated or dejected, such an agent is declared to be Rajasika. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
The agent who is full of affections, who wishes for the fruit of actions, who is covetous, endued with cruelty, and impure, and who feels joy and sorrow, is declared to be of the quality of passion. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.
Wise action without fruit-seeking breaks the birth-cycle and leads to the sorrowless state.
Hear the three-fold division of buddhi and dhṛti by guṇas, declared exhaustively and distinctly, O Dhananjaya.
Therefore, Brahman-knowers always begin yajña, dāna, and tapas with 'OṀ' as ordained by scripture.
Sat means: being/reality, goodness/virtue, and praiseworthy action — three registers of the one word.
Rājasic karma: done desiring pleasures or with ego-pride, involving great effort.
Verse 27 of 78 · back to Chapter 18