Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 30
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये।बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी।।
pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye
bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī
also searched as "pravrittim cha nivrittim cha karyakarye bhayabhaye"
Translation
That Buddhi, O Arjuna, which knows activity and renunciation, what should be done and what should not be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and release—that Buddhi is Sattvika.
Vāṇi's rendering
The understanding that knows when to act and when to stop, what binds and what frees, what to fear — is clear.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| प्रवृत्तिम्pravṛttim | going forth into action, engagement |
| चca | and |
| निवृत्तिम्nivṛttim | drawing back, ceasing from action |
| चca | and |
| कार्यkārya | what is to be done |
| अकार्येakārye | and what is not to be done (joined to the previous word by sandhi) |
| भयbhaya | fear |
| अभयेabhaye | and fearlessness (joined to the previous word by sandhi) |
| बन्धम्bandham | bondage, what ties one down |
| मोक्षम्mokṣam | release, freedom |
| चca | and |
| याyā | which |
| वेत्तिvetti | knows, discerns |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | understanding, the deciding faculty |
| साsā | that |
| पार्थpārtha | Arjuna, son of Pṛthā |
| सात्त्विकीsāttvikī | clear, lucid, of the quality of sattva |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 30 mean?
It describes the clear understanding — buddhi that can distinguish action from stillness, the deed to be done from the deed to be refused, real danger from imagined danger, what binds from what frees. Krishna is not praising a mood. He is praising an eye for differences, which is what steadies a life.
What is pravrittim cha nivrittim cha karyakarye bhayabhaye about?
About discernment in pairs. Every situation offers you engagement or withdrawal, obligation or refusal, fear or its groundlessness, chains or release. The sāttvikī buddhi does not pick a favourite and apply it everywhere. It looks, and it sees which of the two this moment actually is.
Does a clear mind mean I stop feeling afraid?
No. Krishna says such understanding knows bhaya and abhaya both — it is intimate with fear, not exempt from it. What changes is accuracy. You stop dreading what cannot harm you and stop ignoring what can. Fear becomes information rather than fog.
How do I know when to act and when to stop?
Not by a rule kept in the pocket. Krishna points to a trained faculty, sharpened by honesty over time, that reads each occasion on its own terms. Ask of any impulse whether it loosens something or tightens it. Answer that truthfully often enough and the discernment grows.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice what is not promised. Krishna does not say the clear understanding is free of fear — it knows fear, knows what is worth fearing and what is not. Clarity is not the absence of the pairs; it is the ability to tell them apart. When to move, when to hold still. What tightens the knot, what loosens it. Arjuna wants a rule that will decide for him. Krishna describes instead a faculty that sees the difference in each situation, freshly. You already know the days when everything blurs into one urgent obligation. Sāttvikī buddhi is the day the edges come back.