Bhagavad Gita 17.18 meaningYou are what you trust
In simple wordsSo simple a child gets it
“Doing good just to be praised doesn’t last.”
What it means
“Discipline practised to gain respect, praise or admiration, or for show, is restless. It is unstable and doesn't last.”
The original Sanskrit
सत्कारमानपूजार्थं तपो दम्भेन चैव यत् । क्रियते तदिह प्रोक्तं राजसं चलमध्रुवम् ॥
satkāramānapūjārthaṃ tapo dambhena caiva yat kriyate tadiha proktaṃ rājasaṃ calamadhruvam
Translations
Literal translation
That austerity which is undertaken for earning a name, being honoured and worshipped, and also ostentatiously,-that is spoken of as born of rajas, belonging to this world, uncertain and transitory.
Swami Gambhirananda
हिंदी अनुवाद
जो तप सत्कार, मान और पूजा के लिए अथवा केवल दम्भ (पाखण्ड) से ही किया जाता है, वह अनिश्चित और क्षणिक तप यहाँ राजस कहा गया है।
Swami Tejomayananda
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Commentaries
How great teachers across 1,200 years have explained this verse.
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Keep reading · 17.19“Discipline practised with misguided stubbornness, by hurting oneself or to harm others, is dull.”