Recognition-driven discipline is unstable.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
सत्कारमानपूजार्थं तपो दम्भेन चैव यत् |क्रियते तदिह प्रोक्तं राजसं चलमध्रुवम् ||१७-१८||
satkāramānapūjārthaṃ tapo dambhena caiva yat . kriyate tadiha proktaṃ rājasaṃ calamadhruvam ||17-18||
Use this verse when practice becomes performance.
Meaning
Austerity performed for honor, respect, worship, or show is called rajasic, unstable, and temporary.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Rajasic tapas is discipline done for recognition.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna warns that discipline can become ego-marketing. When practice is performed for image, status, or admiration, it becomes unstable and does not deeply transform.
Read the traditional commentary
Rajasic austerity is done satkara-mana-puja-artham — to win respect, honour, and admiration — and dambhena, with pretension. It is discipline turned into a performance for an audience, a means to manufacture a holy reputation. Krishna adds a telling judgement: such tapas is chalam adhruvam, unstable and impermanent. Because it depends on external recognition, it cannot last; when the applause fades, the practice collapses.
This is a piercing observation about the ego's hunger for approval. When our spiritual effort is secretly aimed at being seen as spiritual, it loses its anchor and becomes brittle. The reward such austerity seeks is fleeting public esteem, so its results are equally fleeting.
Krishna invites honest self-examination: do we practise to grow, or to be admired? Only effort that does not depend on others' praise can be steady and deep.
In daily life
Do not let spiritual habits become image management.
A person may post every workout, fast, or meditation mainly for validation.
Try this today
Do one practice privately without sharing it.
My discipline is for purification, not validation.Reflect
Am I practicing for growth or recognition?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘चलम् अध्रुवम्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on hypocrisy, in other chapters
- Verse 16.17Ritual performed for show, however grand, is empty — true worship must humble the ego, not flatter it.
- Verse 18.24Action driven by craving, ego, and exhausting strain is restless and binding, not free.
- Verse 13.9Honestly facing life's impermanence loosens craving and turns the heart toward what cannot decay.
- Verse 3.6Controlling outward behaviour while secretly indulging in the mind is self-deception, not discipline — real change starts within.
Swipe left for 17.19 · Harmful discipline is not spiritual.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 17.18
Who says Bhagavad Gita 17.18, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 17.18, in Chapter 17, Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 17.18 mean?
Austerity performed for honor, respect, worship, or show is called rajasic, unstable, and temporary. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 17.18 for daily life?
Do not let spiritual habits become image management. A person may post every workout, fast, or meditation mainly for validation.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 17.18 mean?
सत्कार मान पूजा अर्थम् — for the sake of good reception, honour, and worship; तपः दम्भेन च एव — austerity with hypocrisy / ostentation; यत् क्रियते — which is performed; तत् इह प्रोक्तम् — that is said here; राजसम् — to be rajasic.
Where does verse 17.18 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 18 of 28 in Chapter 17, Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 17.19.