📿 Shloka Collection

Na Dveshty Akushalam Karma

Gita 18.10 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18 — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
न द्वेष्ट्यकुशलं कर्म कुशले नानुषज्जते ।
त्यागी सत्त्वसमाविष्टो मेधावी छिन्नसंशयः ॥
Na dveshty akushalam karma kushale nanushajjate
Tyagi sattvasamavishto medhavi chhinnasanshayah
न द्वेष्टि
does not hate — feels no aversion
अकुशलम्
unpleasant — difficult work
कुशले
in pleasant work
न अनुषज्जते
does not cling — is not attached
सत्त्वसमाविष्टः
filled with sattva (clarity)
मेधावी
wise — intelligent
छिन्नसंशयः
free of doubt — whose doubts are cut away

What does a sattvic renouncer actually look like in daily life? Krishna paints the portrait here. This person does not resent the hard tasks. When unpleasant work lands on their plate, there is no bitterness, no dragging of feet. And when work is easy and enjoyable, there is no clinging, no desperate wish for it to last forever.

Three qualities define this person: they are filled with sattva (inner clarity), they are medhavi (genuinely wise, not just book-smart), and their doubts have been cut clean through. There is no second-guessing, no 'should I or shouldn't I.' The mind is settled.

This is a portrait of steadiness. Not the dull stillness of a stone, but the living balance of a river that flows at the same pace through narrow gorges and wide plains alike.

This shloka echoes the description of the sthitaprajna (person of steady wisdom) from Chapter 2, verses 54-72. The steady-minded person described there and the sattvic renouncer described here are essentially the same figure.

The word 'chhinnasanshayah' — whose doubts are cut away — is significant. Real stability comes only when inner questioning has been resolved, not suppressed.

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