Srimad Bhagavad-Gita : Chapter-18, Slokam - 24.

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Wednesday, July 06. 2022. 05:00. AM.

Chapter-18.  Moksha-sannyasa-yogam.

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Slokam :24.

"Yat tu kamepsuna karma sahankarena va punah

kriyate bahulayasam tad rajasam udahritam."18.24

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Translation :

yat—which; 

tu—but; 

kāma-īpsunā—prompted by selfish desire; 

karma—action; 

sa-ahaṅkārena—with pride; 

vā—or; 

punaḥ—again; 

kriyate—enacted; 

bahula-āyāsam—stressfully; 

tat—that; 

rājasam—in the nature of passion; 

udāhṛitam—is said to be

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2.

kamepsuna   =  one  who  has  the  desire  of  experiencing  the  fruits  himself;

punah  sahankarena   va  =   or  with  his  ego  of  the  consciousness  of  his  role  as  the  doer;

bahulayasam   yat   karmam  =  or  because  of  the  stimuation  of  raga  and  dveashm;

kriyate  tat  =  the  karmam  done  with  great  labour;

rajasam   udahrtam  =  is  said  to  be  rajasam.

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Translation : BG 18.24: 

But action performed with great effort by one seeking to gratify his desires, and which is enacted from a sense of false ego, is called action in the mode of passion.  

Action that is prompted by selfish desire, enacted with pride, and full of stress, is in the nature of passion.

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Commentary :

Continuing Lord Krishna affirms that actions done to acquire rewards and which are escorted with conceit and attended by ahankarena or egoism, thinking that one is the actual doer and desirous of everyone to know and which is accomplished only after great endeavour and expenditure of effort is of the nature of raja guna the mode of passion.

Lord Krishna asserts that actions that are pompous and ostentatious or possessed of egoism and conceit or enacted expressly with the desire and purpose of coveting rewards or that is executed with great effort and difficulty are declared to be situated in raja guna the mode of passion.

Lord Krishna explains that actions that involve excessive effort and cause stress and strain from the conception to the completion. 

Actions that are executed with the expectation of enjoyment and rewards. 

Actions that are motivated by vanity, conceit and egoism as well as desire for recognition. 

Such actions are known to be situated in raja guna the mode of passion.

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Conclusion :

The nature of rajo guṇa is that it creates intense desires for materialistic enhancement and sensual enjoyment. So, action in the mode of passion is motivated by huge ambition and characterized by intense effort. It entails heavy toil and great physical and mental fatigue. An example of rājasic action is the corporate world. Management executives regularly complain of stress. This is because their actions are usually motivated by pride and an inordinate ambition for power, prestige, and wealth. The efforts of political leaders, over-anxious parents, and business persons are also often typical examples of actions in the mode of passion.

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To be continued ....

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