📿 Shloka Collection

Ragi Karmaphalaprepsuh

Gita 18.27 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18 — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
रागी कर्मफलप्रेप्सुर्लुब्धो हिंसात्मकोऽशुचिः ।
हर्षशोकान्वितः कर्ता राजसः परिकीर्तितः ॥
Ragi karmaphalaprepsur lubdho himsatmako'shuchih
Harshashokanvitah karta rajasah parikirtitah
रागी
attached, full of craving
कर्मफलप्रेप्सुः
one who craves the fruit of action
लुब्धः
greedy, grasping
हिंसात्मकः
of a violent nature, harmful
अशुचिः
impure, unclean
हर्षशोकान्वितः
swayed by elation and sorrow
राजसः
rajasic, driven by rajas

Six traits mark the rajasic doer: attachment, craving for results, greed, a tendency toward harm, impurity, and the constant swing between elation and grief. This person works — often very hard — but never finds peace.

Picture a merchant who counts his coins every hour. When profits come, he celebrates. When losses strike, he falls apart. The work itself never satisfies him; only the outcome matters. That restless swinging between high and low is the hallmark of the rajasic doer.

Krishna is not condemning this person. The rajasic doer is not evil — just incomplete. There is energy, there is effort. The direction, though, has not yet aligned with something deeper than personal gain.

This is the second of three types of doers described in shlokas 18.26-28. The sattvic doer (18.26) was free from attachment and ego. The rajasic doer here is the opposite — driven by craving and emotional volatility.

The Gita does not shame anyone for being rajasic. It simply holds up a mirror. Whoever recognizes these traits in themselves has already taken the first step toward change.

Chapter 18 · 27 / 78
Chapter 18 · 27 / 78 Next →