Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 7

कर्माशुक्लाकृष्णं योगिनः त्रिविधमितरेषाम् ॥७॥

karma-aśukla-akṛṣṇaṃ yoginaḥ trividham-itareṣām ||7||

The actions of one who has Yoga
are neither white nor black,
of others it is three fold.

karman - act, action, performance; work, labour, activity; any religious act or rite; organ of senseaśukla - not whiteakṛṣṇa - not blackyoga - the act of yoking, joining, attaching, harnessing; a yoke, team, vehicle, conveyance; employment, use, application, performance; a means, expedient, device, way, manner, methodtrividha - three folditara - others

Commentaries and Reflections

Commentary by Paul Harvey:

“Even though Yoga talks about the possibility of
a state of being expressing motiveless action,
for the rest of us there is always an ulterior motive.

The issue is what it truly is, rather than just whether it
had what we believed as a white, grey or black intention.
Also, whether this intention is what we wanted to believe,
or is there another truth lurking within our sense of right?
Thus, the outcome may well differ from what we believed.

However, as many of our motives fall within the grey spectrum,
a deeper introspection into the reality of intention is important.
To at least minimise Viparyaya, existing as a flight of fancy, or
posing as if a truth convincing in its rightness to exist, when in
reality, merely an opinion, even if not its deeper partner Avidyā.”