Chapter XVII · Śloka 11
Śrī Kṛṣṇa uvāca
अफलाकाङ्क्षिभिर्यज्ञो विधिदृष्टो य इज्यते |
यष्टव्यमेवेति मनः समाधाय स सात्त्विकः ||
यष्टव्यमेवेति मनः समाधाय स सात्त्विकः ||
aphalākāṅkṣibhir yajño vidhi-dṛṣṭo ya ijyate |
yaṣṭavyam eveti manaḥ samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ ||
yaṣṭavyam eveti manaḥ samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ ||
That sacrifice which is offered according to scriptural injunction by those who seek no fruit, with the mind fixed on the thought 'this is simply to be done' — that is sāttvika.
The sāttvika sacrificer offers because offering itself is the right action — not because something is expected in return. This is the pure form of all ritual: duty performed for its own sake, the very thing Krishna taught from the opening chapters.