Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 17, Verse 11
अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्यज्ञो विधिदृष्टो य इज्यते।यष्टव्यमेवेति मनः समाधाय स सात्त्विकः।।
aphalākāṅkṣibhir yajño vidhi-driṣṭo ya ijyate
yaṣṭavyam eveti manaḥ samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ
also searched as "aphalakankshibhir yajno vidhi drishto ya ijyate"
Translation
The sacrifice (worship) marked by Sattva is what is offered by those who desire no fruit and have the conviction that it should be performed as prescribed in the scriptures.
Vāṇi's rendering
An offering made as prescribed, asking nothing back, made simply because it must be made — that offering is clear.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिःaphala-ākāṅkṣibhiḥ | by those who do not hanker after any fruit (appears as aphalākāṅkṣibhir before the next word) |
| यज्ञःyajñaḥ | the offering, the act of sacrifice (yajño by sandhi) |
| विधिदृष्टःvidhi-dṛṣṭaḥ | seen in the rule, done exactly as prescribed (vidhi-dṛṣṭo by sandhi) |
| यःyaḥ | which (ya before ijyate) |
| इज्यतेijyate | is offered, is performed |
| यष्टव्यम्yaṣṭavyam | it is to be offered, it must be done |
| एवeva | simply, just so (joined with iti as eveti) |
| इतिiti | thus — marking the thought held in the mind |
| मनःmanaḥ | the mind |
| समाधायsamādhāya | having settled, having placed firmly |
| सःsaḥ | that (offering) (sa before sāttvikaḥ) |
| सात्त्विकःsāttvikaḥ | clear, of the quality of light and steadiness |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Verse 11 mean?
It describes the clearest kind of offering: done in the prescribed way, by someone who wants nothing back, with the mind settled on one thought — this is simply to be done. The form of the act matters, but what decides its quality is the absence of a bill attached to it.
What does aphalakankshibhir yajno vidhi drishto ya ijyate teach about worship?
That worship is not measured by its intensity or its scale, but by what you expect from it. Krishna calls sāttvika the offering made because it is right to make, not because something is owed in return. Ritual correctness without that inner emptiness of demand is only technique.
Why does Krishna insist the offering follow the prescribed rule?
Because desirelessness is easily faked by improvisation. Vidhi-dṛṣṭa keeps the act honest: you do the thing as it is meant to be done, with no room to shape it around your preferences. The rule handles the form so your mind is free to hold only yaṣṭavyam eva — this must be done.
How can I practise this in ordinary work, not ritual?
Do the task as it should be done, fully, and then notice what part of you is still waiting — for thanks, for notice, for a result. That waiting is the fruit-hunger Krishna names. Set the work down without it, and an ordinary hour becomes an offering.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Watch what is removed here. Not the ritual — the ritual stays, exact, done by the book. What goes is the asking. Krishna is not praising the man who wants nothing; he is describing what an act looks like when nothing is expected back from it. And notice the reason given: because it must be made. No reward, no glow of virtue, not even the satisfaction of having been selfless. The mind is settled on the doing, and then left there. Arjuna will hear this again about his own war. Whatever you offer today — food, work, attention — check what you set down beside it, waiting to be handed back.