यया तु धर्मकामार्थान्धृत्या धारयतेऽर्जुन ।प्रसङ्गेन फलाकाङ्क्षी धृतिः सा पार्थ राजसी ॥
yayā tu dharmakāmārthān dhṛtyā dhārayate 'rjuna |prasaṅgena phalākāṅkṣī dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha rājasī ||
- यया · yayā
- by which
- तु · tu
- but
- धर्मकामार्थान् · dharmakāmārthān
- duty, pleasure, and gain
- धृत्या · dhṛtyā
- by resolve
- धारयते · dhārayate
- one holds to
- अर्जुन · arjuna
- O Arjuna
- प्रसङ्गेन · prasaṅgena
- with attachment
- फलाकाङ्क्षी · phalākāṅkṣī
- craving the fruit
- धृतिः · dhṛtiḥ
- resolve
- पार्थ · pārtha
- O Partha
- राजसी · rājasī
- rajasic
“But the resolve by which one clings to duty, pleasure, and gain with attachment, craving the fruit — that resolve, O Partha, is rajasic.”
— Original plain-language translation
Rajasic resolve is tenacity in service of appetite — even duty becomes a means to reward. The goals (dharma, kāma, artha) are not wrong; the clutching is. This verse diagnoses ambition that uses virtue as strategy.
— Reader's notes (original)