SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
SlOkam – Original
rAgI karmapalaprEpsur lubdhO himsAthmakO’Suchi:|
harshaSOkAnvitha: karthA rAjasa: parikIrthitha: ||
word-by-word meaning
rAgI – being desirous of fame
karma pala prEpsu: – being desirous of the results of the karma
lubdha: – being a miser (to spend the money required to perform the karma)
himsAthmaka: – harming others to perform his karma
aSuchi : – being impure (lacking the purity which is required to perform the karma)
harsha SOkAnvitha: – being the one who becomes joyous and sorrowful (due to the victory or defeat respectively in war etc)
karthA – the performer of the karma
rAjasa: pari kIrthitha: – is said to be a rAjasa karthA
Simple Translation
The performer of the karma who is desirous of fame, desirous of the results of the karma, a miser (to spend the money required to perform the karma), harms others to perform his karma, is impure (lacking the purity which is required to perform the karma) and who becomes joyous and sorrowful (due to the victory or defeat respectively in war etc), is said to be a rAjasa karthA.
Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam
‘That is Rājasa-Actor who is ambitious, fruit-
seeking, niggardly, hurtful, impure, and enslaved by joy and grief.’
Ambitious (rāgi) = An eager desiring after fame, power honor, or distinction.
Fruit-seeking = expecting to reap the benefits of work done.
Niggardy (lubdha) = The being unwilling to Incur expenditure demanded by a work.
Hurtful (hims-ātmaka) = The getting of a work done by subjecting others to cruelty.
Impure (aśuchiḥ) = The being destitute of (personal and other) holiness, a prerequisite for work.
And a slave to joy and grief, consequent on success or failure attending any work such as war; —such is the Rājasa-Actor.
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