Verse 18.23

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 18.23:

नियतं सङ्ग-रहितम् अराग-द्वेषतः कृतम् ।
अफल-प्रेप्सुना कर्म यत् तत् सात्त्विकम् उच्यते ॥ २३ ॥

niyataṃ saṅga-rahitam arāga-dveṣataḥ kṛtam |
aphala-prepsunā karma yat tat sāttvikam ucyate || 23 ||

niyatam–steadily; saṅga-rahitam–with detachment; arāga-dveṣataḥ–free from attachment and aversion; kṛtam–performed; aphala-prepsunā–without desire for the result; karma–work; yat–which; tat–that; sāttvikam–governed by the quality of goodness; ucyate–is said to be.

That obligatory duty (nitya-karma) that a person performs without desiring the result and without attachment, and that is free from any personal attraction or aversion, is said to be governed by the quality of goodness.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Having explained the three types of knowledge, Śrī Bhagavān explains the three types of action, or karma. When one performs nitya-karma (regular duties as prescribed in scripture), without attachment to it or absorption in it–that is, without attraction or aversion or any desire for its fruits–it is called action in the mode of goodness.