24. yat tu kdmepsuna karma
sahamkarena va punah
kriyate bahulayasam
tad rajasam udahrtam
(24) But that action which is done in great strain by one who seeks to gratify his desires or is impelled by self-sense, is said to be of the nature of "passion."
bahulaydsam: with great strain The consciousness of suffering, the sense that we are. doing something disagreeable, that we are passing through grim suffering and toil takes away from the value of the act. To feel consciously that we are doing something great, that we are sacrificing something vital is a failure of the sacrifice itself. But when the work is undertaken for the cause, it is a labour of love and sacrifice itself is not felt as a sacrifice. Doing unpleasant things from a sense of duty, feeling the unpleasantness all the time is of the nature of "passion," but doing it gladly m utter unseif-consciousness, with a smile on the lips, as Socrates drank hemlock, is of the nature of "goodness." It is the difference between an act of love and an act of law, an act of grace and an act of obligation.
25. anubandham ksayarh himsam
anapeksya ca paurusam
mohod arabhyate karma
yat tat tamasam ucyate
(25) The action which is undertaken through ignorance, without regard to consequences or to loss and injury and without regard to one's human capacity, that is said to be of "dull.ness." The effects of actions on others must always be considered; only selfish aims are to be renounced.
Three Kinds of Doer
26. muktasango 'nahamvadi
dhrtyutsahasaInanvitah
siddhyasiddhvor nirvikarah
karta sattvika ucyate
(26) The doer who is free from attachment, who has no speech of egotism, full of resolution and zeal and who is unmoved by success or failure he is said to be of the nature of "goodness "
27. ragi karmaphalaprepsur
lubdho himsatmako 'sucih
harsa.okanvitah karta
rajasah parikiritah
(27) The doer who is swayed by passion, who eagerly seeks the fruit of his works, who is greedy, of harmful nature, impure, who is moved by joy and sorrow he is said to be of "passionate" nature
28. ayuktah prakriah stabdhah
satho naikrtiko 'lasah
visadi dirghasutri ca
karta tamasa ucyate
(28) The doer who is unbalanced, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, indolent, despondent and procrastinating, he is said to be of the nature of "dullness."
prakrtah : "quite uncultured in intellect and like a child." S.
29. budder bhedam dhrtes cai
'va gunatas trividham srnu
procyamanam asesena
prthaktvena dhanamjaya
(29) Hear now the threefold distinction of understanding as also of steadiness, 0 winner of wealth (Arjuna), according to the modes, to be set forth fully and separately.
30. pravrttim ca nivrttim ca
karyakarye bhayabhaye
bandham moksam ca ya vetti
buddhih sa partha sattviki
(30) The understanding which knows action and non-action, what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what binds and what frees the soul (that understanding), 0 Partha (Arjuna), is of the nature of "goodness."
