Bhagavad Gita · 17.1 · Yoga through Discerning the Three Divisions of Faith·1 of 28
अर्जुन उवाचये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयाऽन्विताः।तेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वमाहो रजस्तमः ॥
arjuna uvācha ye śhāstra-vidhim utsṛijya yajante
śhraddhayānvitāḥ teṣhāṁ niṣhṭhā tu kā kṛiṣhṇa sattvam āho rajas tamaḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Faith has a flavor · 17.1–17.6 · Teaching
Translation
Arjuna said, "What is the condition of those who, disregarding the injunctions of the scriptures, perform sacrifice with faith—is it Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas, O Krishna?"
Meaning
This chapter deals with the three kinds of people who are endowed with three kinds of faith. Each of them follows a path in accordance with his inherent nature -- either Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic.Arjuna says to Krishna It is very difficult to grasp the meaning of the scriptures. It is still more difficult to get a spiritual preceptor who can teach the scriptures. The vast majority of persons are not endowed with a pure, subtle, sharp and onepointed intellect. The span of life is short. The scriptures are endless. The obstacles on the spiritual path are many. Facilities for learning are not always available.There are conflicting statements in the scriptures which have to be reconciled. Thou hast said that liberation is not possible without a knowledge of the scriptures. An ordinary man, though ignorant of or unable to follow this teaching, does charity, performs rituals, worships the Lord with faith, tries to follow the footsteps of sages and saints just as a child copies letters that have been written out for him as a model, or as a blind man makes hiw way by the aid of another who possesses sight. What faith is his How should the state of such a man be described -- Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic What is the fate of the believers who have no knowledge of the scriptures
After Swami Sivananda
Faith has a flavor· 17.1–17.6→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
17.1Arjuna said, "What is the condition of those who, disregarding the injunctions of the scriptures, perform sacrifice with faith—is it Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas, O Krishna?"
- 17.2The Blessed Lord said, "There are threefold faiths inherent in the nature of the embodied: the sattvic (pure), the rajasic (passionate), and the tamasic (dark). Hear of them."
- 17.3The faith of each is in accordance with their nature, O Arjuna. People consist of their faith; as a person's faith is, so are they.
- 17.4The sattvic, or pure, men worship the gods; the rajasic, or passionate, worship the yakshas and rakshasas; the others, the tamasic or deluded people, worship ghosts and hosts of nature-spirits.
- 17.5Those men who practice terrific austerities not prescribed by the scriptures, given to hypocrisy and egoism, driven by the force of lust and attachment.
- 17.6Know thou these to be of demonical resolves, senselessly torturing all the elements in the body and Me who dwell in the body.
Word-by-word→
- tu
- indeed
- ye
- who
- kā
- what
- āho
- or
- rajaḥ
- mode of passion
- sattvam
- mode of goodness
- tamaḥ
- mode of ignorance
- yajante
- worship
- teṣhām
- their
- utsṛijya
- disregard
- niṣhṭhā
- faith
- kṛiṣhṇa
- Krishna
- śhāstra-vidhim
- scriptural injunctions
- arjunaḥ uvācha
- Arjun said
- śhraddhayā-anvitāḥ
- with faith
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