The verse and its meaning · Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 18 · What Makes an Action

The Steady Worker

Bhagavad Gita 18.26

मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः।सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते

Meaning · English

Free from attachment, free from talk of "I", endowed with firm resolve and zeal, and unmoved by success or failure: such a worker is said to be in the mode of goodness.

Krishna gives four marks of the worker in goodness, which is what sattva means: clear, balanced. First, mukta-sanga. Sanga is clinging, a sticking to things; mukta is freed. This worker still acts, but does not hang the heart on the outcome or the tools. Second, anaham-vadi, one who does not speak of "I". Aham is the "I"; the phrase means free from ego, not boasting, not claiming the deed as a personal trophy. Third, dhriti and utsaha: resolve and zeal. Dhriti is the grip that holds the work steady when it turns dull or hard. Utsaha is the energy to begin and keep going. So this person is not passive or detached in the sense of lazy. Fourth, nirvikara, unchanged, in siddhi and asiddhi, success and failure. Vikara is distortion; the mind is not bent out of shape by either result. Krishna says all this because the surrounding verses describe workers driven by craving, pride or delusion. Here is the contrast: full effort without being owned by the result. Shankara reads it as a worker whose action is purified by giving up the sense of doing; Ramanuja, as one who works as service. Krishna asks Arjuna to look at how he acts, not only what he does.

A good rower pulls hard on every stroke, steady in rhythm, whether the wind is behind or against. The rower does not sulk at a headwind or gloat at a tailwind. Strong effort with a level mind is the worker the verse describes.

1. Pick one task today that matters to you, such as cooking a meal, a work report or a call to a relative. 2. Before starting, say quietly what you will give it: how long, how carefully. Leave the result out of it. 3. Work at it with full attention until that time is done. 4. Afterwards, notice how you react to the outcome, good or poor, and whether the pull to claim credit or blame yourself rose up. Just notice, for a minute.

A potter has spent three weeks on a set of bowls for a market stall. The kiln is opened: two have cracked, and the rest are fine. Her first impulse is to fix on the cracks and decide the whole month was wasted, or to dwell on the praise she expects from the good ones. Krishna's description of the sattvika worker changes the moment step by step. She sees her clinging to the result and lets it loosen. She notes which part of the work was hers: the clay, the firing schedule, the care. She checks the cracked bowls for what they teach, without the sting of "I failed". Then she picks up the next lump of clay with the same steady effort. Ordinary experience confirms that people who tie their worth to each result tire faster and learn less from mistakes. The verse does not promise that disappointment will not hurt, that the bowls will survive the kiln, or that steadiness replaces rest or help when work is overwhelming.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Action Begun in Delusion · Bhagavad Gita 18.25
• Next: Driven by Craving · Bhagavad Gita 18.27
• All of Bhagavad Gita · Ask Krishna about it

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