But that fortitude by which one holds on to dharma, pleasure, and wealth, O Arjuna, with attachment and desire for the fruits — that fortitude, O Partha, is rajasic.

Rajasic dhṛti is the fortitude that sustains the pursuit of the three worldly goals — dharma (righteous conduct), kāma (pleasure), and artha (wealth) — but does so with prasaṅga (attachment) and phalākāṅkṣā (desire for the fruits of each pursuit). This is the fortitude of the driven person: the ambitious professional who works tirelessly, the seeker who practices discipline but always with an eye on what they will get for it. This is not a trivial quality — it produces real results in the world — but it is bound. The person who holds on with rajasic dhṛti exhausts themselves through the very quality that sustains them, because desire-driven fortitude cannot be truly satisfied. The satisfaction always requires another round of effort.