18.34 yayA thu dharmakAmArthAn

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 18

<< Chapter 18 Verse 33

SlOkam – Original

yayA thu dharmakAmArthAn dhṛuthyA dhArayathE’rjuna |
prasangEna palAkAnkshI dhṛuthi: sA pArtha rAjasI ||

word-by-word meaning

pArtha arjuna – Oh arjuna, son of kunthI!
palAkAnkshI – one who desires for results (other than mOksham)
prasangEna – with great attachment
dharma kAma arthAn – acts which are means for the three purushArthams viz dharma, artha and kAma
yayA thu dhruthyA – with that dhruthi (steadiness)
dhArayathE – sustains
sA dhruthi: – that steadiness
rAjasi – is caused by rajO guNam

Simple Translation

Oh arjuna, son of kunthI! That dhruthi (steadiness) with which one who desires for results (other than mOksham) with great attachment, sustains the acts which are means for the three purushArthams viz dharma, artha and kAma, is caused by rajO guNam.

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘That is Rājasa-Purpose, Pārtha! by which, — from motives of attachment and fruit—, Dharma, pleasures and wealth are maintained.’

That is Rājasa-Purpose or Will by which a person, who, longing for fruit, and who, on account of much attachment, —maintains, feeds or keeps alive such desires as virtue (dharma), pleasures (kāma), and wealth (artha) is the paraphrase.

Dharma, Kāma and Artha[1. Four-fold aspirations of man, dharma (meritorious work done here carrying with it the virtue of bringing future happiness, mundane or otherwise), artha (riches and general prosperity), kāma (enjoyments), moksha (deliverance or Salvation).] figuratively stand for the means by which those ambitions are achieved, viz., the powers of mind, life, and the senses.

Fruit, aimed at, is only the fruit of these, viz: Dharma, Kāma and Artha (not Moksha of Stanza 33).

So, that Purpose or Will is called Rājasa, which maintains or sustains the energies of the mind, life and the senses directing themselves to the achieval of the ends, viz: Dharma, Kāma and Artha.[2. Four-fold aspirations of man, dharma (meritorious work done here carrying with it the virtue of bringing future happiness, mundane or otherwise), artha (riches and general prosperity), kāma (enjoyments), moksha (deliverance or Salvation).]

>> Chapter 18 Verse 35

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