What the scriptures say about enthusiasm

What do the scriptures say about enthusiasm?

The texts call it utsāha (उत्साह). Lakshmana tells Rama there is no strength greater than utsāha. A mark of the sattvic doer (18.26). They set it against laziness, emptiness and despair.

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15 stories
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Krishna

मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥

muktasaṅgo’nahaṃvādī dhṛtyutsāhasamanvitaḥ | siddhyasiddhyornirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate ||

The doer who is free from attachment, does not speak of himself, is full of steadiness and enthusiasm, and unmoved by success or failure, is called sattvic.

Bhagavad Gita 18.26

Enthusiasm in the texts' own words

Verses that show it in a person, or name it outright.

Krishna
मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥
muktasaṅgo’nahaṃvādī dhṛtyutsāhasamanvitaḥ | siddhyasiddhyornirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate ||
The doer who is free from attachment, does not speak of himself, is full of steadiness and enthusiasm, and unmoved by success or failure, is called sattvic.
Bhagavad Gita 18.26
Depicts the worker full of steadiness and zest. our reading
Krishna
मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥
muktasaṅgo’nahaṃvādī dhṛtyutsāhasamanvitaḥ | siddhyasiddhyornirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate ||
The doer who is free from attachment, does not speak of himself, is full of steadiness and enthusiasm, and unmoved by success or failure, is called sattvic.
Bhagavad Gita 18.26
Lakshman
उत्साहो बलवानार्य नास्त्युत्साहात् परं बलम्। सोत्साहस्य हि लोकेषु न किंचिदपि दुर्लभम्॥
utsāho balavānārya nāstyutsāhāt paraṃ balam| sotsāhasya hi lokeṣu na kiṃcidapi durlabham||
Noble brother, enthusiasm is powerful; there is no strength greater than enthusiasm. For the person who has it, nothing in the world is out of reach.
Valmiki Ramayana · Kishkindha Kanda
Hanuman
अनिर्वेदः श्रियो मूलमनिर्वेदः परं सुखम्। भूयस्तत्र विचेष्यामि न यत्र विचयः कृतः॥
anirvedaḥ śriyo mūlamanirvedaḥ paraṃ sukham| bhūyastatra viceṣyāmi na yatra vicayaḥ kṛtaḥ||
Not losing heart is the root of success; not losing heart is the highest happiness. I will search again, in the places I have not yet searched.
Valmiki Ramayana · Sundara Kanda

How it grows, step by step

Sequences the texts state outright, in their own order.

Fate is your own past effort

Yoga Vasishtha, Mumukshu Prakarana 4-9

human effort
today's effort
Enthusiasm
Laziness

Fate is only one's own earlier effort. Today's effort and yesterday's meet like two rams, and the stronger wins, so make today's the stronger. A tired mind says that fate did it. Whatever you practise, you become.

Vasishtha
द्वौ हुडाविव युध्येते पुरुषार्थौ समासमौ । प्राक्तनश्चैहिकश्चैव शाम्यत्यत्राल्पवीर्यवान् ॥ अतः पुरुषयत्नेन यतितव्यं यथा तथा । पुंसा तन्त्रेण सद्योगाद्येनाश्वद्यतनो जयेत् ॥
dvau huḍāviva yudhyete puruṣārthau samāsamau | prāktanaścaihikaścaiva śāmyatyatrālpavīryavān || ataḥ puruṣayatnena yatitavyaṃ yathā tathā | puṃsā tantreṇa sadyogādyenāśvadyatano jayet ||
Past effort and present effort fight like two rams, sometimes evenly matched and sometimes not; the weaker one gives way. So strive by every means, with skill and good application, so that today's effort quickly wins.
Yoga Vasishtha
Vasishtha
दोषः शाम्यत्यसंदेहं प्राक्तनोऽद्यतनैर्गुणैः । दृष्टान्तोऽत्र ह्यस्तनस्य दोषस्याद्य गुणैः क्षयः ॥
doṣaḥ śāmyatyasaṃdehaṃ prāktano’dyatanairguṇaiḥ | dṛṣṭānto’tra hyastanasya doṣasyādya guṇaiḥ kṣayaḥ ||
There is no doubt: past faults are calmed by present virtues. The proof is that yesterday's mistake is undone by today's good deeds.
Yoga Vasishtha
Vasishtha
यथा यथा प्रयत्नः स्याद्भवेदाशु फलं तथा । इति पौरुषमेवास्ति दैवमस्तु तदेव च ॥
yathā yathā prayatnaḥ syādbhavedāśu phalaṃ tathā | iti pauruṣamevāsti daivamastu tadeva ca ||
As the effort, so quickly comes the fruit. So there is only effort; if you want to call it fate, it is that same effort.
Yoga Vasishtha

No strength greater than the will to go on

Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha 1.121 (Gita Press); Sundara 12.10; Kishkindha 49

Despair
Enthusiasm
success

Lakshmana tells a grieving Rama that enthusiasm is strong, there is no strength greater than it, and nothing is out of reach for one who has it. Hanuman thinks in Lanka that not losing heart is the root of fortune. Sugriva says that one who gives in to despair sinks like an overloaded boat.

Lakshman
उत्साहो बलवानार्य नास्त्युत्साहात् परं बलम्। सोत्साहस्य हि लोकेषु न किंचिदपि दुर्लभम्॥
utsāho balavānārya nāstyutsāhāt paraṃ balam| sotsāhasya hi lokeṣu na kiṃcidapi durlabham||
Noble brother, enthusiasm is powerful; there is no strength greater than enthusiasm. For the person who has it, nothing in the world is out of reach.
Valmiki Ramayana · Kishkindha Kanda
Hanuman
अनिर्वेदः श्रियो मूलमनिर्वेदः परं सुखम्। भूयस्तत्र विचेष्यामि न यत्र विचयः कृतः॥
anirvedaḥ śriyo mūlamanirvedaḥ paraṃ sukham| bhūyastatra viceṣyāmi na yatra vicayaḥ kṛtaḥ||
Not losing heart is the root of success; not losing heart is the highest happiness. I will search again, in the places I have not yet searched.
Valmiki Ramayana · Sundara Kanda
Angada
अवश्यं कुर्वतां तस्य दृश्यते कर्मणः फलम्। परं निर्वेदमागम्य नहि नोन्मीलनं क्षमम्॥
avaśyaṃ kurvatāṃ tasya dṛśyate karmaṇaḥ phalam| paraṃ nirvedamāgamya nahi nonmīlanaṃ kṣamam||
Those who keep working surely see the fruit of their work. But once you sink into deep despair, you cannot rise again.
Valmiki Ramayana · Kishkindha Kanda

What it heals

The states the texts set it against.

Laziness Emptiness Despair

Practices that grow enthusiasm

Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.

Krishna
उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् । आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥
uddharedātmanā’’tmānaṃ nātmānamavasādayet | ātmaiva hyātmano bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanaḥ ||
Raise yourself by your own self; do not let yourself sink. For the self alone is the friend of the self, and the self alone is the enemy of the self.
Bhagavad Gita 6.5
A call to rise. our reading
Bhartrihari
आलस्यं हि मनुष्याणां शरीरस्थो महारिपुः । नास्त्युद्यमसमो बन्धुः कुर्वाणो नावसीदति ॥
ālasyaṃ hi manuṣyāṇāṃ śarīrastho mahāripuḥ | nāstyudyamasamo bandhuḥ kurvāṇo nāvasīdati ||
Laziness is the great enemy that lives in a person's own body. There is no friend like effort; one who works does not sink.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Shows effort as a friend. our reading
Bhishma
विपन्ने च समारम्भे सन्तापं मा स्म वै कृथाः / घटेतैवं सदाऽऽत्मानं राज्ञामेष परो नयः
vipanne ca samārambhe santāpaṃ mā sma vai kṛthāḥ / ghaṭetaivaṃ sadā’’tmānaṃ rājñāmeṣa paro nayaḥ
If an undertaking fails, do not torment yourself over it. Keep applying yourself again and again; this is the highest rule for those who lead.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Rajadharma
Shows renewed exertion is called the supreme rule. our reading
Vidula
अलब्ध्वा यदि वा लब्ध्वा नानुशोचति पण्डितः / आनन्तर्यं चारभते न प्राणानां धनायते
alabdhvā yadi vā labdhvā nānuśocati paṇḍitaḥ / ānantaryaṃ cārabhate na prāṇānāṃ dhanāyate
Whether he wins or fails, the wise person does not keep grieving. He starts on the next task at once and does not hoard his own life.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidula's counsel
Shows starting what comes next immediately. our reading
Sampati
पापिउ जाकर नाम सुमिरहीं। अति अपार भवसागर तरहीं॥ तासु दूत तुम्ह तजि कदराई राम हृदयँ धरि करहु उपाई ॥
pāpiu jākar nām sumirahīṃ| ati apār bhavasāgar tarahīṃ|| tāsu dūt tumha taji kadarāī rām hṛdayaṁ dhari karahu upāī ||
Even sinners who remember his name cross the boundless ocean of the world. You are his messengers: give up your timidity, keep Ram in your heart and find a way.
Ramcharitmanas, Kishkindha Kand 4.30 (chaupai 2)
Shows getting up and devising the means. our reading
Narrator
जस जस सुरसा बदनु बढ़ावा। तासु दून कपि रूप देखावा॥ सत जोजन तेहिं आनन कीन्हा। अति लघु रूप पवनसुत लीन्हा ॥
jas jas surasā badanu baṛhāvā| tāsu dūn kapi rūp dekhāvā|| sat jojan tehiṃ ānan kīnhā| ati laghu rūp pavanasut līnhā ||
As Surasa widened her mouth, Hanuman showed a form twice as large. She made her mouth a hundred leagues wide; then Hanuman took a very tiny form.
Ramcharitmanas · Sundar Kand
Shows him meeting a test with play and not dread. our reading
Tulsidas
अबलों नसानी, अब न नसैहौं। राम-कृपा भव-निसा सिरानी, जागे फिरि न डसैहौं॥
abaloṃ nasānī, ab na nasaihauṃ| rām-kṛpā bhav-nisā sirānī, jāge phiri na ḍasaihauṃ||
Till now it has been wasted; from now it will not be. By Ram's grace the long night is over. Now that I am awake, I will not spread the bed of sleep again.
Vinay Patrika
Waking after a long night. our reading
Sanatkumara
यदा वै करोत्यथ निस्तिष्ठति नाकृत्वा निस्तिष्ठति कृत्वैव निस्तिष्ठति कृतिस्त्वेव विजिज्ञासितव्येति कृतिं भगवो विजिज्ञास इति ॥
yadā vai karotyatha nistiṣṭhati nākṛtvā nistiṣṭhati kṛtvaiva nistiṣṭhati kṛtistveva vijijñāsitavyeti kṛtiṃ bhagavo vijijñāsa iti ||
When one acts, one becomes steadfast. One does not become steadfast without acting; only by acting does one become steadfast. So action itself must be understood. 'Sir, I wish to understand action.'
Chhandogya Upanishad 7.21.1
Shows acting first and firmness following. our reading

People who lived it

Someone in the scriptures came to this, and the story shows how.

From the Gita
What becomes of one who falls from yoga
Arjuna fears that one who falls short is lost like a torn cloud. Krishna promises that no one who does good comes to ruin; past effort carries forward and they strive again.
No sincere effort is wasted; you pick up where you left off.
From the Mahabharata
Vidula rouses her defeated son
Kunti sends Yudhishthira the old story of Queen Vidula, who finds her son lying defeated after losing his kingdom. She shames, then reasons, then encourages him until he rises and fights for it again.
Past failure doesn't define you. Results are uncertain, but those who never try never succeed.
From the Ramayana
Jambavant reminds Hanuman of his strength
Nobody can leap the ocean. Old Jambavant admits honestly that he is no longer young. Then he turns to the silent Hanuman and asks why he sits quiet: what task in the world is too hard for him? Hanuman grows to the size of a mountain.
Sometimes we need someone else to remind us what we can do; and the old can be that someone.
From the Ramayana
Sampati's burned wings
The search party, past its deadline with no news, sits down by the sea to die. A huge old vulture, Sampati, overhears them talking of his brother Jatayu. He tells them how pride once made him fly too close to the sun and burn his wings; a sage told him they would grow back when he helped Ram's messengers. He tells them where Sita is, and his wings grow back as he speaks.
Even after the fall your pride caused, you can still be useful, and hope can return.

Is this where you are?

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Questions people ask

What is the Sanskrit word for enthusiasm?

Utsāha (उत्साह). Energy, zest, the will to begin again.

Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about enthusiasm?

Bhagavad Gita 18.26: The doer who is free from attachment, does not speak of himself, is full of steadiness and enthusiasm, and unmoved by success or failure, is called sattvic.

Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.