Bhagavad Gita · 17.3 · Yoga through Discerning the Three Divisions of Faith·3 of 28
सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत।श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्धः स एव सः ॥
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śhraddhā bhavati bhārata
śhraddhā-mayo ‘yaṁ puruṣho yo yach-chhraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Faith has a flavor · 17.1–17.6 · Teaching
Translation
The 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.
Meaning
The faith of every person conforms to his inherent nature or natural temperament. Man is imbued with faith. The term Svabhava is the last verse and the word Sattva in the present one are synonymous.A mans character may be judged by his faith. A mans faith shows what his character is. A man is what his faith has made him. A mans conduct in life is moulded or shaped by his faith. His faith will indicate his Nishtha (state of being, conviction). The faith of each man is according to his natural disposition or the specific tendencies or Samskaras or the selfreprodutive latent impressions of the good and bad actions which were performed in the past births. The faith of each man takes its colour and quality from the stuff of his being, his temperament, tendencies or Samskaras.Sattva Nature Natural disposition the mind with its specific tendencies.Each Every living being.Purusha Man The individual soul which is caught up in the wheel of transmigration the soul qualified by mind.Sraddhamayah Full of faith Just as the Annamaya Kosa is full of food, just as the Anandamaya Kosa is full of bliss, so also the Antahkarana (mind, intellect, etc.) is full of faith.The man consists of his faith that which his faith is, he is verily that. This theory is only a repetition of the theory propounded in chapter VII, verses 20 and 23, and in chapter IX, verse 25.
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→
- eva
- verily
- ayam
- that
- saḥ
- they
- yaḥ
- who
- bhavati
- is
- bhārata
- Arjun, the scion of Bharat
- sarvasya
- all
- śhraddhā
- faith
- puruṣhaḥ
- human being
- sattva-anurūpā
- conforming to the nature of one’s mind
- yat-śhraddhaḥ
- whatever the nature of their faith
- śhraddhāmayaḥ
- possessing faith
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