A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“Right action becomes pure when reward stops being the reason.”
A sacrifice performed according to scriptural rule by people without desire for reward, with the mind settled on “it must be done,” is sattvic.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyby those without desire for reward · sacrifice · seen by rule · which · is performed · must be offered · indeed · thus · mind · having settled · that · sattvic
A sacrifice is pure when it is done because it should be done, not for reward.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga" (The Three Kinds of Faith).
Verse 11 sits in Chapter 17 of the Bhagavad Gita — Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga, "The Three Kinds of Faith". The chapter has 28 verses in total.
A daughter cooks for her father's death anniversary every year, by the family's rites and with no wish for praise. Krishna would call that sattvic sacrifice, done because it ought to be done.
Did you like this verse?
Sattvic sacrifice follows the rule, wants no reward, and rests on one thought: this ought to be done.
What this verse means
A sacrifice is pure when it is done because it should be done, not for reward.
Context & commentary
Krishna teaches Arjuna on the battlefield, where hesitation has frozen action. After describing lesser kinds of food and conduct, he now defines the pure offering: an act done by rule, with no craving for reward, because duty itself is enough.
What it looks like today
A daughter cooks for her father's death anniversary every year, by the family's rites and with no wish for praise. Krishna would call that sattvic sacrifice, done because it ought to be done.
“Do the offering because it should be done, and stop looking for the reward.”
Explore related themes: yajna (32 verses), sattva (26 verses), nishkama (14 verses)