Chapter 17 · Verse 12 · Sraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 17.12
Sanskrit
अभिसंधाय तु फलं दम्भार्थमपि चैव यत्।इज्यते भरतश्रेष्ठ तं यज्ञं विद्धि राजसम्।।17.12।।
Transliteration
abhisandhāya tu phalaṁ dambhārtham api chaiva yat ijyate bharata-śhreṣhṭha taṁ yajñaṁ viddhi rājasam
In plain words
You know the feeling—when you help someone and immediately want them to know it, or when you're kind because you need to be seen as kind. That hunger to be witnessed, to be called good, can poison even your most genuine gifts. Krishna says: the moment you're performing your virtue instead of living it, you've already lost the gift itself. Check your heart before you act. Are you serving, or are you serving yourself?
Word by Word
When sacrifice becomes a performance for the world's applause, when our gifts are offered not to the Divine but to our own inflated ego, we have drifted into the mode of passion—where intention poisons even noble action. The Gita asks us to examine the hidden motivations beneath our generosity: Are we truly serving, or are we serving ourselves through the mask of service?
In our modern lives, this means pausing before we act—checking whether we post our charity for likes, speak our truth for recognition, or genuinely offer without needing the world to witness our virtue.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 17.12 — BG 17.12
Your Mantra Prescription
This mantra is prescribed for clarity and purpose. Is that what you're going through?
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