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Chapter 17 · Verse 17 · Sraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga

Bhagavad Gita 17.17

transformative Jnana & Wisdom Karma & Action Attachment & Letting Go

Sanskrit

श्रद्धया परया तप्तं तपस्तत्ित्रविधं नरैः।अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्युक्तैः सात्त्विकं परिचक्षते।।17.17।।

Transliteration

śhraddhayā parayā taptaṁ tapas tat tri-vidhaṁ naraiḥ aphalākāṅkṣhibhir yuktaiḥ sāttvikaṁ parichakṣhate

Word by Word

śhraddhayā with faith
parayā transcendental
taptam practiced
tapaḥ austerity
tat that
tri-vidham three-fold
naraiḥ by persons
aphala-ākāṅkṣhibhiḥ without yearning for material rewards
yuktaiḥ steadfast
sāttvikam in the mode of goodness
parichakṣhate are designated
Simplified Perspective

Krishna reveals here the crown jewel of spiritual practice: austerity performed with transcendent faith, untethered from the hunger for results, blooms naturally into the mode of goodness—sattva. This is not renunciation born of fear or revulsion, but the joyful discipline of one who has already tasted the nectar of the Self.

When you practice any spiritual work—meditation, study, service—without grasping at outcomes, you align yourself with the divine order itself, and that alignment becomes your freedom.

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Bhagavad Gita 17.17 — BG 17.17

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Sanskrit text from the Bhagavad Gita (public domain). Commentary © Mahakatha.

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