Chapter 17: Śraddhā-traya-vibhāga-yoga:: Verse 11
अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्यज्ञो विधिदृष्टो य इज्यते ।
यष्टव्यमेवेति मन: समाधाय स सात्त्विक: ॥
aphalākāṅkṣibhir-yajño
vidhi-dṛṣṭo ya ijyate
yaṣṭavyam-eveti mana:
samādhāya sa sāttvika: – 17.11
The yajña (sacrifice) performed without desire for any result thereof, at the same time as prescribed in the scriptures, considering the performance to be noble, and fixing the mind well on its performance, is said to be sāttvika (yajña).
Chapter 17: Śraddhā-traya-vibhāga-yoga: - Verse 11
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
To anoint human life with the required nobility and purpose, one must embody the triple pursuits of yajna, tapas and dāna. Krishna has already explained that the Creator himself has enjoined yajna on humans (3.10), saying it is verily a wish-yielding cow (kāma-dhenu). Here he describes three-kinds of yajna, performed with different aim, intention, and mindset.
In sāttvika sacrifice, the performer has no desire for its acclaimed result. He does it only because he considers it to be a noble act. His sole attention is thus on the performance itself, with the mind fully focussed on its details.
To do something good, benign and noble is a great privilege and fortune. Hence no other motivation or expectation should vitiate the mind. The performance itself is so ennobling and elevating that the performer derives all contentment and fulfilment therefrom.
