Chapter 17 · Verse 17 · Sraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 17.17
Sanskrit
श्रद्धया परया तप्तं तपस्तत्ित्रविधं नरैः।अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्युक्तैः सात्त्विकं परिचक्षते।।17.17।।
Transliteration
śhraddhayā parayā taptaṁ tapas tat tri-vidhaṁ naraiḥ aphalākāṅkṣhibhir yuktaiḥ sāttvikaṁ parichakṣhate
In plain words
You are exhausted from trying to control what comes next—whether it's saving the marriage, getting the job, conceiving the child, or healing from the diagnosis. Krishna says: the moment you pour your whole heart into the work itself and release your stranglehold on the result, you stop burning. That's not passivity. That's the deepest form of trust—and it's the only thing that actually frees you.
Word by Word
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.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 17.17 — BG 17.17
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