Chapter 18, Verse 26
मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः | सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ||१८-२६||
muktasaṅgo.anahaṃvādī dhṛtyutsāhasamanvitaḥ . siddhyasiddhyornirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate ||18-26||
Meaning
18.26 An agent who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with firmness and enthusiasm, and unaffected by success or failure, is called Sattvic (pure).
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Now Krishna classifies the doer. The sattvic agent is free from attachment, makes no boastful claim of 'I did it,' and is filled with dhriti (steady firmness) and utsaha (genuine enthusiasm). Crucially, he remains nirvikara — unmoved — in both success and failure.
Here is the ideal worker the whole Gita has been building toward. He is not passive; he brings energy and resolve to his task. But his stability does not depend on outcomes. Praise does not inflate him nor failure deflate him. This combination of wholehearted engagement and inner equanimity is the very signature of one established in sattva.
💡 Key Takeaway
The finest doer works with energy and resolve yet stays unmoved by both success and failure.
Related Verses
कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन | सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्यागः सात्त्विको मतः ||१८-९||
kāryamityeva yatkarma niyataṃ kriyate.arjuna . saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalaṃ caiva sa tyāgaḥ sāttviko mataḥ ||18-9||
18.9 Whatever obligatory action is done, O Arjuna, merely because it ought to be done, abandoning attachment and also the desire for reward, that renunciation is regarded as Sattvic (pure).
न द्वेष्ट्यकुशलं कर्म कुशले नानुषज्जते | त्यागी सत्त्वसमाविष्टो मेधावी छिन्नसंशयः ||१८-१०||
na dveṣṭyakuśalaṃ karma kuśale nānuṣajjate . tyāgī sattvasamāviṣṭo medhāvī chinnasaṃśayaḥ ||18-10||
18.10 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.
यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते | हत्वाऽपि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते ||१८-१७||
yasya nāhaṃkṛto bhāvo buddhiryasya na lipyate . hatvā.api sa imā.Nllokānna hanti na nibadhyate ||18-17||
18.17 He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose intelligence is not tainted (by good or evil), though he slays these people, he slayeth not, nor is he bound (by the action).