The sattvic doer combines enthusiasm with detachment.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः |सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ||१८-२६||
muktasaṅgo.anahaṃvādī dhṛtyutsāhasamanvitaḥ . siddhyasiddhyornirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate ||18-26||
Use this verse to define your ideal doer-state.
Meaning
The doer who is free from attachment and ego-speech, endowed with firmness and enthusiasm, and unchanged in success or failure is called sattvic.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
A sattvic doer is detached, humble, steady, enthusiastic, and balanced in success and failure.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna defines the ideal doer. This person works with energy but not ego, persistence but not obsession, and steadiness regardless of results.
Read the traditional 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.
In daily life
Work wholeheartedly without ego or emotional swings.
A founder can stay energetic after failure and humble after success.
Try this today
Before work, set an intention for effort without ego.
I work with enthusiasm and remain steady.Reflect
Do success and failure change my inner state too much?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘अनहंवादी’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on non attachment, in other chapters
- Verse 2.38Train yourself to act with full commitment while holding all outcomes — success and failure, gain and loss — with equal steadiness; that equanimity is the key to action without karmic bondage.
- Verse 5.20Meet both pleasant and unpleasant with steady composure — true stability comes from resting in what never changes.
- Verse 6.9Spiritual maturity shows in seeing the same essence in friend and foe, saint and sinner alike, without partiality.
- Verse 12.17Rise above rejoicing, hating, grieving, and craving — while keeping the heart full of devotion.
Swipe left for 18.27 · Result-obsession makes the doer rajasic.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 18.26
Who says Bhagavad Gita 18.26, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 18.26, in Chapter 18, Moksha Sannyas Yoga (Moksha Sannyas Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 18.26 mean?
The doer who is free from attachment and ego-speech, endowed with firmness and enthusiasm, and unchanged in success or failure is called sattvic. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 18.26 for daily life?
Work wholeheartedly without ego or emotional swings. A founder can stay energetic after failure and humble after success.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 18.26 mean?
मुक्तसङ्गः — free from attachment; अनहंवादी — non-egoistic / free of self-assertion; धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः — endowed with firmness and enthusiasm; सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः — in success and failure; निर्विकारः — unaffected / unchanged.
Where does verse 18.26 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 26 of 78 in Chapter 18, Moksha Sannyas Yoga. The next verse is 18.27.