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Adhyāyas / Mokṣa-Sannyāsa Yogaḥ / verse 34

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
यया तु धर्मकामार्थान् धृत्या धारयतेऽर्जुन। प्रसङ्गेन फलाकाङ्क्षी धृतिः सा पार्थ राजसी
yayā tu dharma-kāmārthān dhṛityā dhārayate ‘rjuna prasaṅgena phalākāṅkṣhī dhṛitiḥ sā pārtha rājasī
Anuṣṭubh

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

But, O Partha, the steadfastness with which one holds on to righteousness, covetable things, and wealth, desiring their fruits as the occasion for each arises, that steadfastness is born of rajas.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

हे पृथापुत्र अर्जुन ! कर्मफल का इच्छुक पुरुष अति आसक्ति (प्रसंग) से जिस धृति के द्वारा धर्म, अर्थ और काम (इन तीन पुरुषार्थों) को धारण करता है, वह धृति राजसी है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
यया तु धर्म कामार्थान्
धृत्या धार यतेऽर् जुन
प्रसङ् गेन फला‌ काङ्क् षी
धृतिस् सा पार्थ राजसी
॥ ३४ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
yayāby which
tubut
dharma-kāma-arthānduty, pleasures, and wealth
dhṛityāthrough steadfast will
dhārayateholds
arjunaArjun
prasaṅgenadue of attachment
phala-ākāṅkṣhīdesire for rewards
dhṛitiḥdetermination
that
pārthaArjun, the son of Pritha
rājasīin the mode of passion

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
18.29–18.40Intellect, firmness and happiness, each threefold.

K completes the great analysis by running buddhi (intellect/judgment), dhṛti (firmness/resolve) and sukha (happiness) through the three strands. Intellect (18.30–32): sattvic buddhi knows rightly what to do and not do, what to fear and not fear, bondage and liberation; rajasic buddhi confuses right and wrong, dharma and adharma; tamasic buddhi, wrapped in darkness, takes adharma to be dharma and sees everything upside-down. Firmness (18.33–35): sattvic dhṛti is the unwavering steadiness that holds mind, breath and senses in Yoga; rajasic dhṛti clings, with attachment, to duty, pleasure and wealth, craving their fruit; tamasic dhṛti is the stubbornness that will not let go of sleep, fear, grief, despair and conceit. Happiness (18.36–39): sattvic sukha is “like poison at first and nectar in the end”, born of the serenity of Self-knowledge — hard at the outset, blissful at maturity; rajasic sukha is “nectar at first, poison in the end”, born of the contact of sense and object; tamasic sukha, deluding from beginning to end, springs from sleep, sloth and heedlessness. This last triad is a jewel of practical wisdom: the worthwhile joys cost effort up front and reward later (the discipline of 6.16); the cheap joys reward instantly and cost dearly after; the worthless ones are pleasant only to a dulled mind. By this test alone one can sort one’s own pleasures.