The man of renunciation, pervaded by purity, intelligent, and with his doubts cut asunder, does not hate a disagreeable work nor is he attached to an agreeable one.
In simple words
Krishna describes the truly free person: "A person of pure renunciation — clear-minded, free from doubt — does not avoid unpleasant work and does not cling to pleasant work. They just do what is right."
Word-by-word meanings
नnotद्वेष्टिhatesअकुशलम्disagreeableकर्मactionकुशलेto an agreeable oneनnotअनुषज्जतेis attachedत्यागीthe abandonerसत्त्वसमाविष्टःpervaded by purityमेधावीintelligentछिन्नसंशयःwith his doubts cut asunder
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
18.10 न not? द्वेष्टि hates? अकुशलम् disagreeable? कर्म action? कुशले to an agreeable one? न not? अनुषज्जते is attached? त्यागी the abandoner? सत्त्वसमाविष्टः pervaded by purity? मेधावी intelligent? छिन्नसंशयः with his doubts cut asunder.Commentary All actions are eally welcome to the man of renunciation. He is not affected by either pleasure or pain. He is not elated at performing pleasant actions nor does he find unpleasantness when he does disagreeable actions. He does not hate the latter? nor is he attached to the former. Neither has he aversion to painful actions nor attraction to pleasant ones. As he has no attachment to any action or its rewards? he will do any action for the welfare of all beings.Akusalam Karma Disagreeable work or work done with expectation of reward? which becomes the cause of bondage to Samsara? by producing a body. He does not hate an unpleasnt action? thinking? Of what use is itKusale To good ones which include obligatory daily duties. He has no attachment to them even with the notion that they lead to salvation by purifying the heart and conseently giving rise to the dawn of knowledge and devotion to it.When one abandons attachment to action and desire for its reward and performs actions vigorously? his heart is filled with Sattva or purity which produces discrimination between the Real and the unreal? the Eternal and the transient. Then he attains knowledge of the Self which dispels all the doubts caused by ignorance. He now realises that the only means of attaining the spureme bliss or eternal peace or immortality is knowledge of the Self. This rends asunder all his doubts. What is the nature of doubt Does Brahman exist or not Do the Upanishads deal with Saguna Brahman or Nirguna Brahman Is the individual soul identical with the Supreme Being or not Will I be able to realise the Self or not Will any of the Karmas (Prarabdha? Sanchita and Agami) affect me Does this Samsara whose nature is the feelings I do this and I enjoy this belong to the Self or to the mind and intellect What are the means for liberation -- Yoga? devotion? Karma or knowledge of the Self What is Moksha Is it Selfrealisation or the attainment of the Salokya? Samipya? Sarupya and Sayujya states (dwelling in the kingdom of God? proximity to Him? assuming the same form as the Lord and merging in Him)When a man practises Karma Yoga he gets purity of heart and through purity of heart knows himself to be the immutable actionless Self Who is destitute of birth? or remains without acting or causing others to act (Cf.V.13). He attains devotion to the knowledge of the Self and freedom from all actions. The purpose of the Karma Yoga described above has been taught in this verse.Medhavi He who is endowed or united with wisdom. He is a Sthitaprajna. What is Medha? then It is the immediate knowledge of the identity of the individual soul and the Supreme Being by meditation on the right significance of the great sentence (I am Brahman or That thou art)? which,is free from the three kinds of doubts? viz.? Samsaya Bhavana (doubt)? Asambhavana (improbability) and Viparitabhavana (perversion)? and by the practice of the four means and service of the Guru (who is versed in the scriptures and established in Brahman) and hearing the truths from him.Such a Medhavi will not think that prohibited actions which bind an ignorant man will be unfavourable to him. He will never think that they will bind him if he has to perform them? because he is above good and evil? virtue and vice? right and wrong. He has no idea of agency (Kartritva Abhimana) he feels that he is a Kritakritya? one who has accomplished all actions.This does not mean that he will do wrong actions. As his will is one with the cosmic will? whatever action he performs will be in accordance with the scriptures. He will never deviate even a fraction of an inch from the rules of the scriptures. The Lord alone works through his mind and senses as he has no individual will.RagaDvesha (likes and dislikes) are the motives that induce a worldly man to actions. As they are absent in a sage or a Medhavi? he can renounce the fruits of all actions and actions as well.As the ocean remains calm amidst stormy waves? even so a Sattvic man remains calm amidst adverse or stormy conditions of life. He recognises that the happenings of life are inevitable. He acts in a variety of ways but is not disturbed as he has a balanced and disciplined mind.There must be no hatred for unpleasant or disagreeable action that brings physical suffering? danger or unlucky results or untoward conseences? when it is the work that should be done. You will have to accept such work also with a willing heart and work with hear and soul. You must have a profound and comprehensive understanding of its need and meaning also. Arjuna failed to understand in the beginning the deep significance and need of the work given by the Lord. He brought in his own foolish philosophy. He failed to do his bounden duty because? due to ignorance? he thought it was an unpleasant or disagreeable action to kill people but in the end when his eyes were opened by the valuable teachings of the Lord? he understood the need and the meaning of the work although it appeared to him as disagreeable and unpleasant in the beginning? and said My illusion is destroyed. I have gained knowledge through Thy grace? O Krishna. I am firm? my doubts are gone. I will act according to Thy instructions.
Swami Chinmayananda
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
In the previous verse, the Blessed Lord Sri Krishna stated that the sattvic person performs their prescribed duties by understanding them merely as duty, while renouncing attachment to the fruits. At first glance, this principle of renunciation may appear impossible to the ordinary person. Perceiving perhaps some such wonder in Arjuna's expression, the Blessed Lord Sri Krishna in this verse presents a clearer picture of the sattvic person.
Ordinary ignorant people are of an excessive nature. They never perceive the world as it truly is. They view the objects of the world through a vision colored by their likes and dislikes. Thereafter, they strive to obtain what is dear to them and labor to reject what is unpleasant. For this, they do not concern themselves with righteous or unrighteous actions. They become attached to actions that bring them their desired objects and develop aversion to other actions. As a result, when they obtain what is desired, they experience excessive joy, and when they obtain what is undesired, they fall into the abyss of sorrow. In the hearts of such people, desire, anger, envy, and other vices find permanent residence. Should any of them occasionally engage in righteous conduct, they become attached to religious practices due to their excessive nature and regard others as fallen, viewing them with contempt. However, the sattvic person is free from all these vices mentioned above. The reason for this is their developed faculty of discrimination. Through the discrimination of self and non-self, they clearly understand that the body, the senses, the mind, and the intellect are all non-self, and that birth and death, hunger and thirst, and grief and delusion are their characteristics alone—not of the witnessing Self that illuminates all these. Because of this knowledge, they do not identify themselves with the non-self adjuncts. This is what is meant here when it is said that they harbor no aversion to the inauspicious and no attachment to the auspicious. Such a person alone is truly called well-educated and well-cultured. Other undiscerning people wander hither and thither like dry leaves, carried along by the wind's movement and direction. The discerning person remains a witness to their own mind, whereas undiscerning people, lacking renunciation, suffer by identifying with the modifications of their mind.
To understand the true nature of any object and to renounce the false, knowledge of one's own eternal and complete nature is essential. This capacity of the intellect to understand objects and to think rationally is called medha—the power of discrimination and retention. It is not merely the ability to understand and think clearly, but also the capacity to retain acquired knowledge and recall it as needed. The person endowed with this power is called medhavi—one of discriminative intellect. Such a medhavi person possesses clear knowledge of the following truths: (1) their own field of action, (2) the adjuncts through which they connect with the world, (3) their own nature as pure bliss, and (4) their relationship with the world. This medhavi person is free from doubt (their doubts are severed), because doubt can arise only from incomplete knowledge of an object; otherwise, it cannot.
There is no doubt that such sattvic renunciates are rare in the world. The majority of people identify themselves with their bodily adjuncts and regard themselves as the doer of actions, and then they are forced to experience the fruits of their karma.
The ignorant person who cannot renounce the pride of doership and attachment to the body should at least renounce attachment to the fruits of action. The Blessed Lord says: