rāgī karma-phala-prepsur
lubdho hiḿsātmako ’śuciḥ
harṣa-śokānvitaḥ kartā
rājasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
Translation of Bhagavad Gita 18.27
The worker who is attached to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, and who is greedy, always envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow, is said to be in the mode of passion.
Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
A person is too much attached to a certain kind of work or to the result because he has too much attachment for materialism or hearth and home, wife and children. Such a person has no desire for higher elevation in life. He is simply concerned with making this world as materially comfortable as possible. He is generally very greedy, and he thinks that anything attained by him is permanent and never to be lost. Such a person is envious of others and prepared to do anything wrong for sense gratification. Therefore such a person is unclean, and he does not care whether his earning is pure or impure. He is very happy if his work is successful and very much distressed when his work is not successful. Such is the worker in the mode of passion.
Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
Ragi means one who is attached to his work. Lubdha means one who is attached to enjoyment of sense objects.
Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:
18.27 The ‘passionate’ doer is one who aspires for fame; ‘who seeks the fruits of his acts’ is one who longs for the fruits of his acts; the ‘greedy’ is he who does not spend the wealth required for the act; the ‘harmful’ is one, who while acting, hurts others; the ‘impure’, is one who lacks the purity required for the act; who is moved by ‘delight and grief’ in war etc., is one who is elated or depressed by success or failure in victory (or the opposite) — a doer who fulfils these conditions is declared to be Rajasika.
Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:
One who performs actions with an obsession to profit, who desires only to reap rewards, who is covetous of others possessions. Who is greedy and malevolent, enacting unrighteous acts against others for material gain including killing. Who is unclean internally and externally. Who is elated by success but despondent in failure. Such a one is irrevocably situated in raja guna the mode of passion.
Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:
Sri Madhvacharya did not comment on this sloka.
Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:
One who is attached to actions due to craving for rewards, who is impelled by sense gratification, who is envious of others, who is greedy, unrighteous and prone to cruelty from an oppressive nature inhibiting the welfare of others. Who is joyful gaining benefit but sorrowful at incurring loss. Such a one is undeniably situated in raja guna the mode of passion.
Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:
18.27 Karta, the agent; ragi, who has attachment; karma-phala-prepsuh, who is desirous of the results of actions; lubdhah, covetous, greedy for other’s property, and does not part with his own (when) at holy places; himsatmakah, cruel by nature, having a nature that cuases pain to others; asucih, unclean, devoid of internal and external cleanliness; and harsa-soka-anvitah, subject to joy and sorrow, affected by these two, joy and sorrow-joy at the acquisition of desired objects, sorrow at getting undesired objects and losing coverted objects; and elation and dejection may occur to that very person from his actions being aided or hindered; one who is subject to those-; parikirtitah, is declared to be; rajasah, possessed of rajas.
Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:
18.26-28 Muktasangah etc. upto Tamasa ucyate. He who does not make speech of egoism : He who does not claim ‘I am the agent’ i.e., he who is different from the one who claims so by natural inclination, or claims as such with an intention that ‘I should do so’, or claims so in an efficient manner. This nini (suffix employed in anahamvadi) does not prohibit for a Yogin, the speech ‘I do’ under the influence of the cover of the mundane life. Who is overpowered by joy and grief : i.e., at the time of success and failure [respectively]. Wickedness : cruelty.
Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:
ragi karma-phala-prepsur
lubdho himsatmako ’sucih
harsa-sokanvitah karta
rajasah parikirtitah
Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:
mukta-sańgaḥ — liberated from all material association; anaham-vādī — without false ego; dhṛti — with determination; utsāha — and great enthusiasm; samanvitaḥ — qualified; siddhi — in perfection; asiddhyoḥ — and failure; nirvikāraḥ — without change; kartā — worker; sāttvikaḥ — in the mode of goodness; ucyate — is said to be.
