Bhagavad Gita 17.11 Meaning: Aphalakankshibhiryajno

Bhagavad Gita 17.11

अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्यज्ञो विधिदृष्टो य इज्यते ।यष्टव्यमेवेति मनः समाधाय स सात्त्विकः ॥

Aphalakankshibhiryajno vidhidrishto ya ijyateYashtavyameveti manah samadhaya sa sattvikah

aphalākāṅkṣibhiryajño vidhidṛṣṭo ya ijyate |yaṣṭavyameveti manaḥ samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna says that a sacrifice (yajña) is sāttvika when it is offered as the scriptures direct, by people who do not seek its fruit, with the mind settled on one thought: it ought to be offered.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि वह यज्ञ सात्त्विक है जो शास्त्र की विधि के अनुसार, फल की इच्छा न रखने वाले लोग, मन में यह निश्चय करके करते हैं कि यज्ञ करना ही चाहिए।

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Word by word

अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिः aphalākāṅkṣibhiḥ · by those who seek no fruit (compound (masculine), instrumental plural) Dictionary: a-phala-kāṅkṣin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 59, col. 3 “disinterested, not looking to beneficial consequences”
यज्ञः yajñaḥ · sacrifice (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: yajña, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 839, col. 2 “worship, devotion, prayer, praise; act of worship or devotion, offering, oblation, sacrifice”
विधिदृष्टः vidhidṛṣṭaḥ · as the rules direct (compound (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. vidhi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 968, col. 1 “a rule, formula, injunction, ordinance, statute, precept, law, direction”; dṛṣṭa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 491, col. 3 “seen, looked at, beheld, perceived, noticed”
यः yaḥ · which (pronoun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
इज्यते ijyate · is offered (present passive, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. yaj, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 838, col. 3 “to worship, adore, honour (esp. with sacrifice or oblations)”
यष्टव्यम् yaṣṭavyam · it ought to be offered (gerundive (to be done) (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: yaṣṭavya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 840, col. 3 “to be worshipped or adored (n. impers.)”
एव eva · indeed (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
इति iti · thus (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. iti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 1 “in this manner, thus”
मनः manaḥ · mind (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: manas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 783, col. 3 “mind (in its widest sense as applied to all the mental powers)”
समाधाय samādhāya · settling (absolutive (having done)) Dictionary: sam-ā-dhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1159, col. 3 “to direct or fix the eyes or mind upon”
सः saḥ · that (pronoun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
सात्त्विकः sāttvikaḥ · sāttvika (adjective (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: sāttvika, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1200, col. 1 “relating to or endowed with the quality Sattva (i.e. 'purity' or 'goodness')”

1 printing differs

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्यज्ञो विधिदृष्टोय इज्यते ।
यष्टव्यमेवेति मनः समाधाय स सात्त्विकः ॥ The print sets विधिदृष्टो and य with no space (विधिदृष्टोय); read as a dropped space and shown as two words, because they are two words (vidhi-dṛṣṭaḥ 'seen in the rules', yaḥ 'which'), the edition elsewhere spaces a final -o before य (पुरुषो यो 17.3, आत्मनो यत् 17.19), and both proofreading references divide them. No letter is changed.

Bhagavad Gita 17.11: meaning and translation

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