मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित: |
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते || 26||
mukta-saṅgo ‘nahaṁ-vādī dhṛity-utsāha-samanvitaḥ
siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika uchyate
mukta-saṅgaḥ—free from worldly attachment; anaham-vādī—free from ego; dhṛiti—strong resolve; utsāha—zeal; samanvitaḥ—endowed with; siddhi-asiddhyoḥ—in success and failure; nirvikāraḥ—unaffected; kartā—worker; sāttvikaḥ—in the mode of goodness; uchyate—is said to be
Translation:
An actor agent who is freed from attachment, non-egotistic, unaffected in success and failure, endued with firmness and enthusiasm, is called Sattvic (Karta).
Commentary:
As man is constantly acting in everyday life, it is necessary for him to know what the best qualities of an agent should be. Here, four conditions are prescribed for the Sattvic agent.
1. He should be free from longing for the fruits of his work. This detachment enables the agent to maintain his freedom in the midst of the work he is doing. In fact, it is this spirit of freedom which is to be safeguarded at every turn in this course of earthly life. Freedom is the very essence of spiritual realisation.
2. The absence of the egotistic feeling ‘I am the doer; I am doing this or that is the second quality of the Sattvic agent. It is a clear perception that all action is performed only by the Gunas and the instruments of action. When a man attains this clearness of understanding, he is finally aware that he is not the real actor or agent. He has no egotistic feeling. He remains a witness of all that he is doing with his body, senses and mind.
3. The third attribute of the Sattvic agent is firmness and enthusiasm. Timidity and despondence have no place in the spiritual field. Such a man cannot make any progress towards the goal. In fact it was despondence that overtook Arjuna on the battlefield as described in the opening chapter of the Gita. The effects of such low spirits are vividly described there. The message of the Gita is to lift up the fallen soul by asserting the inherent divinity of human beings. “I am the ever pure (suddha), intelligent (buddha) free (mukta) Atma”-this thought kept up frequently gives infinite strength and courage to man. In truth, man is not the perishable body or the fickle mind, or the deluded intellect. He is Atma, the indivisible ocean of Sat Chit Ananda. What can frighten and terrify him? So thinking and realising, man moves forward with courage and resolution.
4. The fourth attribute is equanimity in the midst of success and failure. If failure comes, he is not deterred but strives again and again till success comes to him. The seeker comes across severe hurdles in the course of his journey to the ultimate, but undaunted by obstacles which may appear superhuman, he moves forward, for he knows that the spirit shall finally triumph over matter. Thus the Sattvic agent is firm as a rock in the midst of the trials and shocks of life. He is full of hope and courage. He knows the ephemeral nature of the world and the reality of the Self, transcending all that is phenomenal in this world and in all the worlds altogether.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
“There are innumerable pathways leading to the Ocean of Immortality. The essential thing is to reach the Ocean. It doesn’t matter which path you follow. Imagine that there is a reservoir containing the Elixir of Immortality. You will be immortal if a few drops of the Elixir somehow get into your mouth. You may get into the reservoir either by jumping into it, or by being pushed into it from behind, or by slowly walking down the steps. The effect is one and the same. You will become immortal by tasting a drop of that Elixir.
“Innumerable are the ways that lead to God. There are the paths of jnana, of karma, and of bhakti. If you are sincere, you will attain God in the end, whichever path you follow. Roughly speaking, there are three kinds of yoga: jnanayoga, karmayoga, and bhaktiyoga.
“What is jnanayoga? The jnani seeks to realise Brahman. He discriminates, saying, ‘Not this, not this’. He discriminates, saying, ‘Brahman is real and the universe illusory.’ He discriminates between the Real and the unreal. As he comes to the end of discrimination, he goes into samadhi and attains the Knowledge of Brahman.
“What is karmayoga? Its aim is to fix one’s mind on God by means of work. That is what you are teaching. It consists of breath-control, (Breathing exercises as prescribed in rajayoga.) concentration, meditation, and so on, done in a spirit of detachment. If a house- holder performs his duties in the world in a spirit of detachment, surrendering the results to God and with devotion to God in his heart, he too may be said to practise karmayoga. Further, if a person performs worship, japa, and other forms of devotion, surrendering the results to God, he may be said to practise karmayoga. Attainment of God alone is the aim of karmayoga.
“What is bhaktiyoga? It is to keep the mind on God by chanting His name and glories. For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion is easiest. This is indeed the path for this age.
“The path of karma is very difficult. First of all, as I have just said, where will one find the time for it nowadays? Where is the time for a man to perform his duties as enjoined in the scriptures? Man’s life is short in this age. Further, it is extremely difficult to perform one’s duties in a spirit of detachment, without craving the result. One cannot work in such a spirit without first having realised God. Attachment to the result somehow enters the mind, though you may not be aware of it.
“To follow jnanayoga in this age is also very difficult. First, a man’s life depends entirely on food. Second, he has a short span of life. Third, he can by no means get rid of body-consciousness; and the Knowledge of Brahman is impossible without the destruction of body-consciousness. The jnani says: ‘I am Brahman; I am not the body. I am beyond hunger and thirst, disease and grief, birth and death, pleasure and pain.’ How can you be a jnani if you are conscious of disease, grief, pain, pleasure, and the like? A thorn enters your flesh, blood flows from the wound, and you suffer very badly from the pain; but nevertheless if you are a jnani you must be able to say: ‘Why, there is no thorn in my flesh at all. Nothing is the matter with me.’
“Therefore bhaktiyoga is prescribed for this age. By following this path one comes to God more easily than by following the others. One can undoubtedly reach God by following the paths of jnana and karma, but they are very difficult paths.
“Bhaktiyoga is the religion for this age. But that does not mean that the lover of God will reach one goal and the philosopher and worker another. It means that if a person seeks the Knowledge of Brahman he can attain It by following the path of bhakti, too. God, who loves His devotee, can give him the Knowledge of Brahman if He so desires.
“But the bhakta wants to realise the Personal God endowed with form and talk to Him. He seldom seeks the Knowledge of Brahman. But God, who does everything at His pleasure, can make His devotee the heir to His infinite glories if it pleases Him. He gives His devotee both the Love of God and the Knowledge of Brahman. If one is able somehow to reach Calcutta, one can see the Maidan and the museum and other places too. The thing is how to reach Calcutta.
“By realizing the Divine Mother of the Universe, you will get Knowledge (BG 10.11) as well as Devotion. You will get both. In bhava samadhi you will see the form of God, and in nirvikalpa samadhi you will realise Brahman, the Absolute Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. In nirvikalpa samadhi ego, name, and form do not exist.
“A lover of God prays to the Divine Mother: ‘O Mother, I am very much afraid of selfish actions. Such actions have desires behind them, and if I perform them I shall have to reap their fruit. But it is very difficult to work in a detached spirit. I shall certainly forget Thee, O Mother, if I involve myself in selfish actions. Therefore I have no use for them. “May my actions, O Divine Mother, be fewer every day till I attain Thee. May I perform, without attachment to the results, only what action is absolutely necessary for me. May I have great love for Thee as I go on with my few duties. May I not entangle myself in new work so long as I do not realise Thee. But I shall perform it if I receive Thy command. Otherwise not.'” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Related Articles:
- Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the evil of attachment, ever devoted to the Supreme Self, with desires completely stilled, liberated from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that Immutable Goal. (BG 15.5)
- He who is free from hope, who is self-controlled, who has abandoned all possessions, though working merely with the body, does not incur sin. (BG 4.21)
Question: What is the nature of the Sattvic Agent?
Answer:
- He is unconcerned with the fruits of action;
- He has abandoned the notion that he is the actor;
- He is firm and enthusiastic in all work;
- He is unaffected by success or failure.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 18 
(78 Verses)
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 |
| 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
| 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 |
| 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 |
