Shloka
अफलाङ्क्षिभिर्यज्ञो विधिदृष्टो य इज्यते |
यष्टव्यमेवेति मनः समाधाय स सात्त्विकः ||१७-११||Transliteration
aphalāṅkṣibhiryajño vidhidṛṣṭo ya ijyate .
yaṣṭavyameveti manaḥ samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ ||17-11||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
17.11. That sacrifice is of the Sattva (Strand), which is offered, as found in the injunction, by men craving for no fruit, by stabilizing their mind with the thought that it is just a thing to be offered.
Shri Purohit Swami
17.11 Sacrifice is Pure when it is offered by one who does not covet the fruit thereof, when it is done according to the commands of scripture, and with implicit faith that the sacrifice is a duty.
Sri Abhinav Gupta
17.11 See Comment under 17.13
Sri Ramanuja
17.11 That sacrifice is marked by Sattva which is offered by those desiring no fruits, with the ‘conviction’, i.e., with the idea that it ought to be performed or that it should be offered for its own sake as worship of the Lord as enjoined in the injunctions of the Sastras, i.e., with hymns, right materials and proper rituals.
Sri Shankaracharya
17.11 Sah, that; yajnah, sacrifice; vidhi-drstah, which is in accordance with the injunctions, which is known through scriptural unjunctions; (and) yah, which; is ijyate, performed; a-phala-akanksibhih, by persons who do not hanker after results; manah samadhaya, with the mental conviction; iti, that; yastavyam, eva, it is surely obligatory, their duty is to accomplish the sacrifice just as it should be-with the firm idea, ‘I have no human goal to achieve through this’-; is said to be a sacrifice which is sattvikah, done through sattva.
Swami Adidevananda
17.11 The sacrifice (worship) marked by Sattva is what is offered by those desiring no fruit, and having the conviction that it should be performed as enjoined in the Sastras.
Swami Gambirananda
17.11 That sacrifice which is in accordance with the injunctions, (and is) performed by persons who do not hanker after results, and with the mental conviction that it is surely obligatory, is done through sattva.
Swami Sivananda
17.11 That sacrifice which is offered by men without desire for reward as enjoined by the ordinance (scripture), with a firm faith that to do so is a duty, is Sattvic or pure.
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
17.11 अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिः by men desiring no fruit? यज्ञः sacrifice? विधिदृष्टः as enjoined by the ordinance? यः which? इज्यते is offered? यष्टव्यम् ought to be offered? एव only? इति thus? मनः the mind? समाधाय having fixed? सः that? सात्त्विकः Sattvic or pure.Commentary When a sacrifice is done with all due Sattvic rites? faith and devotion? without the least taint of desire for reward? with the mind fixed on the sacrifice only? for its own sake (for the,sake of discharging the duty only)? then it is said to be pure in its nature. Here the sacrifice is done in a disinterested spirit or with an attitude of desirelessness (Nishkamya Bhava) as an auxiliary to the attainment of the knowledge of the Self. Such selfless and desireless actions purify the mind and prepare the aspirant for the reception of divine light or knowledge of the Self. The Sattvic nature of a man forces him to do such selfless and desireless sacrifices. He does not care even for his own emancipation. He performs them with the firm belief that they ought to be done. He does them with the firm resolve that sacrifice is a duty.Yajna here is not limited to the ceremonial sacrifice. It is used in a broad sense. Any unselfish action done without attachment? without agency or egoism and without expectation of reward? as an offering unto the Lord? is a Yajna or sacrifice.