Bhagavad Gita 18.23
नियतं सङ्गरहितमरागद्वेषतः कृतम् । अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत्तत्सात्त्विकमुच्यते ॥
niyataṃ saṅga-rahitam arāga-dveṣataḥ kṛtam / aphala-prepsunā karma yat tat sāttvikam ucyate
Translation
Action that is obligatory, done without attachment, free of liking and disliking, by one not greedy for fruit, that is called of the bright kind.
Reflection
Which of your current works could be performed exactly the same way with all four interior conditions met?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Eighteen
Sattvika karma. The defining features are listed cleanly. Niyatam, what is yours to do anyway. Sanga-rahitam, no inward clinging. A-raga-dveshatah kritam, the engine of pull and push is not running. Aphala-prepsuna, no greed for the payoff. Four conditions, all interior. Notice what is not on the list, scale of effort, visibility of outcome, alignment with what the world calls noble. The Gita's bright action can look like washing dishes if the dishes are what is yours. The interior posture is the entire test. Most of the verses in the chapter have been building toward this exact specification, and the language is now precise enough to use as a checklist.