Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

In 18.26 to 18.28 Krishna is talking about three types of Karta:

Bg 18.26

mukta-saṅgo ’nahaṁ-vādī
dhṛty-utsāha-samanvitaḥ
siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikāraḥ
kartā sāttvika ucyate

Synonyms: 

mukta–saṅgaḥ — 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.

Translation: 

One who performs his duty without association with the modes of material nature, without false ego, with great determination and enthusiasm, and without wavering in success or failure is said to be a worker in the mode of goodness.

mukta-saṅgo ’nahaṁ-vādī, mukta-saṅgo, one is not attached to the fruits of one’s activity one is liberated from the attachment to the fruits, 

’nahaṁ-vādī, one doesn’t imagine oneself to be the doer, one understand that whatever success comes there are multiple factors involved to the success, and I alone is not the doer,

dhṛty-utsāha-samanvitaḥ, samanvitaḥ means imbued, permeated with, filled with, Srila Prabhupada translated as qualified with, dhṛty, determination and utsāha, enthusiasm, for a person to make long term progress is enthusiasm and determination, in goodness one has determination and enthusiasm, dhṛty-utsāha-samanvitaḥ. Sometimes people think life in goodness as slow motion as a very boring life, e.g. people think that I should not speak fast, I should not run fast, I should not do activities fast, well slowness is not a defining characteristic of defining goodness, mode of goodness defining characteristic is there is contemplation before action, one thinks reason and then decide to do, that is action in mode of goodness.

In passion after doing one thinks why did I do that. Such actions often one regrets and laments after doing action.

So if a person’s contemplation is quick and clear a person can act fast also. It is not that a person in goodness has to necessarily work slowly. Both a person in goodness and passion both can work fast but a person in passion is in bondage, in illusion is not contemplating is not weighing consequences of action. 

siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikāraḥ, vikarah means change nirvikarah means no change. So such a person whether the person gets success of failure there is no change, 

kartā sāttvika ucyate, such a person is in Satvik Karta, he is Karta in mode of goodness.

End of transcription.