Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 23 (BG 18.23) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

Among the three types of actions, the sattvic action is supreme—that which brings peace to the mind of the doer and harmony to the field of action. Most people perform their duties driven by attachment to results and by their personal likes and dislikes. But here it is taught that prescribed duty, when performed with detachment and free from attraction and aversion, alone is called sattvic action. The sattvic person performs action because action is duty, and duty itself is worship of the Divine. When one is filled with such understanding and inspiration, one rises far beyond one's ordinary competence and excellence. In actions performed with the spirit of offering, the question of attraction and aversion does not even arise. The service rendered by all saints and sages bears witness to this truth. We ourselves perform actions with this spirit on many occasions. A striking example is when we injure our foot. At that moment, we bend down to examine it, and all the limbs of the body engage in its service. In this service, we cannot say that we love our foot more than other limbs. The human being dwells in the entire body, and for that person, all parts of the body are equal. Similarly, when the sattvic person recognizes the one, unique, non-dual, eternal, conscious, all-pervading Supreme Self as one's own true nature, then for that person, the leper and the prince, the healthy and the sick, the poor and the wealthy—all these appear as different limbs of one's spiritual body. Such a person serves the world, animated by joy and the sense of fulfillment. Thus, the perfection of sattvic actions lies in their very performance. The thought of gaining results does not even arise in them.