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Chapter 18 · Verse 23
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 18, Verse 23

नियतं सङ्गरहितमरागद्वेषतः कृतम्। अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत्तत्सात्त्विकमुच्यते॥

niyataṁ saṅgarahitamarāgadveṣataḥ kṛtam | aphalaprepsunā karma yattatsāttvikamucyate ||

Word by Word 10 words
नियतम्
ni down, firmly yam to hold, to control

prescribed, the duty that is properly one's own, what ought to be done

सङ्गरहितम्
sañj to cling, to attach saṅga attachment rahita free from, devoid of

free from attachment

अरागद्वेषतः
a without rāga liking, craving dveṣa disliking, hatred tas from, out of

without liking or disliking, free of love and hate

कृतम्
kṛ to do

done, performed

अफलप्रेप्सुना
a not, without phala fruit, result pra forth āp to obtain epsu desiring to

by one who does not crave the reward, by one seeking no fruit

कर्म
kṛ to do

action, deed

यत्
yad which

which

तत्
tad that

that

सात्त्विकम्
sattva purity, goodness, clarity

sattvic, born of clear goodness

उच्यते
vac to speak

is called, is said to be

describes the clearest, purest kind of action. It is the work you do simply because it is yours to do, without clinging to it, without doing it only for things you like or skipping things you dislike, and without grabbing for any reward. Work done that way, calmly and for its own sake, is called sattvic action, action that comes from a clear and good heart.

कथा

Cleaning the Boats

An original story

A storm had passed in the night, and morning at the Puri harbour looked like the sea had thrown a tantrum. Seaweed lay tangled across the sand. The wooden boats were caked with mud and grit, their decks slick with salt and slime. Most of the fishermen were still asleep, exhausted from holding their nets through the wind.

Aarav came down early to look at the waves. He had no boat of his own. Nobody had asked him to do anything. He could have skipped stones and gone home for breakfast, and no one would have known the difference.

But the boats were a mess.

So he found a stiff coconut-husk brush behind Dadu's shed, filled a bucket from the freshwater pump, and started scrubbing the nearest hull. It was hard, boring work. The grit got under his nails. His knees ached on the wet sand. There was no prize at the end, no one watching, no coins waiting.

Halfway through the third boat, his friend Manoj wandered over, eating a guava.

"Whose boat is that?" Manoj asked.

"I don't know. Madan-chacha's, I think."

"Is he paying you?"

"No."

Manoj frowned. "Then why are you doing it? It's not even your boat. And this one's so ugly — why not just do the nice new one over there? People would notice that."

Aarav kept scrubbing. He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "The boats need cleaning. I'm here. That's all." He didn't pick the pretty boat or skip the ugly one. He just cleaned whichever one was in front of him, the way you wash your own hands without wondering whether they deserve it.

Manoj watched for a while. Then, without a word, he set down his guava, grabbed a second brush, and knelt at the next boat.

By the time the fishermen woke and stumbled down to the shore, the whole line of boats sat gleaming in the early light, ready for the sea. Madan- chacha looked around in astonishment and asked who had done it.

Aarav had already gone home. He never did find out that the village talked about it for a week. He hadn't done it to be talked about. He had done it because it needed doing, and he was there, and that was reason enough.

चिन्तनम्

Have you ever done something helpful when no one was watching and there was no reward? How did it feel different from doing something just to be praised?