Chapter 17 · deep: faith shapes everything

The Yoga of Threefold Faith

Śraddhātraya Vibhāga Yoga

  1. 17.1 Arjuna asks: those who perform yajña with sincere śraddhā but without śāstric ordinance — what guṇa is their state?
  2. 17.2 Śraddhā of the embodied is threefold — born of svabhāva (one's own nature): sāttvikī, rājasī, tāmasī. Hear this.
  3. 17.3 ★ Faith follows one's inner nature. The person IS their śraddhā — whatever one's faith is, that is exactly what one is.
  4. 17.4 Sāttvic worship Devas; rājasic worship Yakṣas/Rākṣasas; tāmasic worship pretas and bhūta-hosts.
  5. 17.5 Those who practice ghora tapas without śāstric sanction, driven by dambha, ahaṃkāra, kāma and rāga — āsurī tapas.
  6. 17.6 They torture their body's elements AND Me who dwell within — know these fools to be of āsurī resolve.
  7. 17.7 Even food is threefold in its appeal to each person; so too yajña, tapas, and dāna. Hear their distinctions.
  8. 17.8 Sāttvic food enhances life, sattva, strength, health, joy, delight — savoury, oleaginous, substantial, heart-pleasing.
  9. 17.9 Rājasic food: bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry, burning — loved by the rājasic; yields pain, grief, disease.
  10. 17.10 Tāmasic food: stale, flavorless, putrid, overnight-old, others' remnants, impure — dear to those immersed in tamas.
  11. 17.11 Sāttvic yajña: performed as ordained, without fruit-desire, with the conviction 'this must be done.'
  12. 17.12 Rājasic yajña: performed targeting fruit and for ostentation — know this, O best of Bharatas.
  13. 17.13 Tāmasic yajña: against ordinance, no food-sharing, no mantras, no dakṣiṇā, no śraddhā — declared tāmasic.
  14. 17.14 Bodily tapas: honouring Devas/dvija/guru/wise; purity, straightforwardness, brahmacarya, non-injury.
  15. 17.15 Speech tapas: non-disturbing, true, agreeable, beneficial words — plus daily svādhyāya (sacred study).
  16. 17.16 Mental tapas: serenity of mind, kindliness, silence, self-restraint, and purity of motive/bhāva.
  17. 17.17 Sāttvic tapas: the three-fold tapas practiced with supreme śraddhā, without fruit-desire, by the disciplined.
  18. 17.18 Rājasic tapas: done for reception, honour, worship, and show — unstable and transient.
  19. 17.19 Tāmasic tapas: done with foolish delusion, self-torture, or to destroy another — declared tāmasic.
  20. 17.20 Sāttvic dāna: given with 'this must be given,' to one expecting no return, at right place, time, and recipient.
  21. 17.21 Rājasic dāna: given expecting reciprocity, or eyeing fruit, or reluctantly — held to be rājasic.
  22. 17.22 Tāmasic dāna: given at wrong place/time, to unworthy recipients, without respect, with contempt.
  23. 17.23 ☆ OṀ Tat Sat: triple name of Brahman — by which brāhmaṇas, Vedas, and yajñas were ordained in the beginning.
  24. 17.24 Therefore, Brahman-knowers always begin yajña, dāna, and tapas with 'OṀ' as ordained by scripture.
  25. 17.25 Uttering 'Tat,' without fruit-desire, mokṣa-seekers perform yajña, tapas, and various acts of dāna.
  26. 17.26 Sat means: being/reality, goodness/virtue, and praiseworthy action — three registers of the one word.
  27. 17.27 Steadiness in yajña, tapas, and dāna is called Sat; and even supporting action for their sake is Sat.
  28. 17.28 ☆ Whatever is sacrificed, given, done, or tapas practiced without śraddhā — that is asat: naught here or hereafter.