Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 27
रागी कर्मफलप्रेप्सुर्लुब्धो हिंसात्मकोऽशुचिः।हर्षशोकान्वितः कर्ता राजसः परिकीर्तितः।।
rāgī karma-phala-prepsur lubdho hinsātmako ‘śuciḥ
harṣa-śokānvitaḥ kartā rājasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
also searched as "ragi karma-phala-prepsur lubdho hinsatmako shuchih"
Translation
That doer is called Rajasika who is passionate, who seeks the fruits of his actions, who is greedy, harmful, and impure, and who is swayed by delight and grief.
Vāṇi's rendering
The doer who is hungry for results — greedy, quick to harm, unclean, swinging between elation and grief — is restless.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| रागीrāgī | driven by passion, coloured by craving |
| कर्मफलप्रेप्सुःkarma-phala-prepsuḥ | hungry to seize the fruit of the action (sandhi: -prepsur before l) |
| लुब्धःlubdhaḥ | greedy (sandhi: lubdho) |
| हिंसात्मकःhiṃsātmakaḥ | harmful by nature, quick to injure (hiṃsā + ātmakaḥ; sandhi: -ko before the elided a) |
| अशुचिःaśuciḥ | unclean, unkempt within and without (initial a elided after -ko) |
| हर्षशोकान्वितःharṣa-śokānvitaḥ | attended by elation and grief, swinging between the two (śoka + anvitaḥ) |
| कर्ताkartā | the doer, the one acting |
| राजसःrājasaḥ | restless in nature |
| परिकीर्तितःparikīrtitaḥ | is declared, is spoken of as such |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 27 mean?
It describes the restless doer — the one who acts while gripped by craving for the result. Greed, willingness to harm, disorder, and the constant lurch between elation and grief are not separate faults. They are what wanting the fruit looks like once it moves into the hands.
What does 'ragi karma-phala-prepsur lubdho' mean in the Gita?
Rāgī is coloured, stained by craving. Karma-phala-prepsuḥ is the reach for the fruit before the work is even finished. Lubdhaḥ is greed. Krishna stacks them deliberately: each grows from the one before. The reach comes first, and the rest arrives as its company.
Why is being swayed by joy and sorrow a fault here?
Because the swing shows where the weight sits. If success lifts you and failure flattens you, the result is carrying you rather than the other way round. Krishna is not asking for coldness. He is pointing out that the elation and the grief are one habit, felt from two sides.
How do I stop being this kind of doer?
Not by fighting the greed or the temper directly — they are branches. Go to the root: the reach for the outcome. Do the work as fully as you can and let where it lands belong to the field. When the wanting eases, the harshness and the swinging quietly lose their fuel.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count the traits and they all point one way: outward. The restless doer wants the fruit, and everything else follows from that wanting. Greed is wanting more. Harm is wanting past someone. Uncleanness is not washing, because there is no time. And the swing — elated when it lands, wrecked when it doesn't — is the fruit holding the reins. Krishna is not scolding Arjuna here; he is showing him a mechanism. You know this doer. You have been him on days when the outcome mattered too much. Watch the wanting, and the rest of the list loosens.