Sanskrit
अभिसन्धाय तु फलं दम्भार्थमपि चैव यत् । इज्यते भरतश्रेष्ठ तं यज्ञं विद्धि राजसम् ॥
abhisandhāya tu phalaṃ dambhārtham api caiva yat ijyate bharataśreṣṭha taṃ yajñaṃ viddhi rājasam
Translation
The sacrifice offered with a view verily to fruit, and also indeed for self-glorification, O best of the Bhâratas; know thou that to be of passion.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The same outward act as verse 11 — a properly performed sacrifice — is reclassified as rajasic the moment the motive shifts to result-seeking or self-display (dambha, the same ostentation-word that will reappear for rajasic austerity in verse 18). The verse makes explicit what’s implicit in the whole chapter: the threefold grading isn’t about the ritual’s form, it’s entirely about the intention behind it. Rājasic sacrifice is done for two things: phala (a result) and dambha (a good showing). The outward act may be flawless; the colour comes entirely from the double motive behind it.
Study deeper
Word by word
- abhisandhāya tu phalaṃअभिसन्धाय तु फलं
- but aiming at the fruit (abhisandhāya + tu + phalam)
- dambhārtham api caiva yatदंभार्थं अपि चैव यत्
- and also for the sake of display (dambha-artham + api + ca + eva + yat)
- ijyate bharataśreṣṭhaइज्यते भरतश्रेष्ठ
- [the sacrifice] performed, O best of Bharatas (ijyate + bharata-śreṣṭha)
- taṃ yajñaṃ viddhi rājasamतं यज्ञं विद्धि राजसं
- know that sacrifice to be rājasic (tam + yajñam + viddhi + rājasam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Because the only thing that changed between verse 11 and this one is motive, not form, there’s an uncomfortable implication: an outside observer, watching the exact same ritual performed correctly, cannot tell which guna it belongs to. Only the person performing it — and Krishna — actually has access to that information, which makes self-honesty about motive the one audit this chapter’s whole grading system depends on.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Since only you can actually see your own motive behind an action that looks identical from the outside, build the habit of auditing yourself honestly — no external observer, however well-meaning, can do that check for you.
Professional
- Two people can deliver the exact same piece of work for entirely different reasons — genuine ownership versus wanting visibility — and a manager watching from outside often can't tell the difference. Build honest self-assessment into review conversations, because the real signal isn't observable from outside.
Family & Social
- You can do the same kind, generous act for a family member out of real care or out of wanting to be seen as generous, and they may never be able to tell which — which is exactly why it's worth checking your own motive honestly instead of assuming the act itself proves something.
Ask yourself
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