Chapter XVIII · Śloka 30
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये |
बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी ||
बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी ||
pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye |
bandhaṃ mokṣaṃ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī ||
bandhaṃ mokṣaṃ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī ||
That intellect which knows engagement and withdrawal, what should be done and what should not, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation — that intellect, O Pārtha, is sāttvic.
The sāttvic intellect navigates all the fundamental distinctions of the moral and spiritual life with clarity: when to act and when to refrain, what binds and what frees. Such discernment is not learned from books alone but ripens through inner purity.