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Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 17
Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
The Three Kinds of Faith
"A person is made of faith: as one's faith is, so is one." Krishna takes the three gunas into the kitchen, the temple, and the marketplace, and ends with the great formula OM TAT SAT.
All 28 verses
Each verse links to its full Sanskrit text, transliteration, plain-English meaning, key learning and practical application.
Gita 17.1ye śāstravidhimutsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ | teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattva…Arjuna said: Those who, casting aside the ordinances of scripture, perform sacrifice filled with faith, what is their st…Gita 17.2-3trividhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṃ sā svabhāvajā | sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ce…The Blessed Lord said: Threefold is the faith of embodied beings, born of their nature, sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic. H…Gita 17.4yajante sāttvikā devānyakṣarakṣāṃsi rājasāḥ | pretānbhūtagaṇāṃścānye yajante tām…Sattvic people worship the gods; the rajasic worship spirits and demons; the tamasic worship ghosts and hosts of spirits…Gita 17.5-6aśāstravihitaṃ ghoraṃ tapyante ye tapo janāḥ | dambhāhaṅkārasaṃyuktāḥ kāmarāgaba…Those who perform terrible austerities not enjoined by scripture, yoked to hypocrisy and egoism, impelled by the force o…Gita 17.7āhārastvapi sarvasya trividho bhavati priyaḥ | yajñastapastathā dānaṃ teṣāṃ bhed…Even the food dear to each is threefold, as also sacrifice, austerity, and charity. Hear the distinction of these.Gita 17.8-10āyuḥsattvabalārogyasukhaprītivivardhanāḥ | rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirā hṛdyā āhārāḥ s…Foods that promote life, vitality, strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction, savoury, smooth, substantial, and agre…Gita 17.11-13aphalākāṅkṣibhiryajño vidhidṛṣṭo ya ijyate | yaṣṭavyameveti manaḥ samādhāya sa s…Sacrifice offered as enjoined by scripture, by those desiring no fruit, with the mind convinced ‘this is simply to be do…Gita 17.14devadvijaguruprājñapūjanaṃ śaucamārjavam | brahmacaryamahiṃsā ca śārīraṃ tapa uc…Worship of the gods, the twice-born, teachers, and the wise; purity, uprightness, continence, and non-violence, this is …Gita 17.15anudvegakaraṃ vākyaṃ satyaṃ priyahitaṃ ca yat | svādhyāyābhyasanaṃ caiva vāṅmaya…Speech that causes no agitation, that is true, pleasant, and beneficial, and the practice of self-study, this is called …Gita 17.16manaḥ prasādaḥ saumyatvaṃ maunamātmavinigrahaḥ | bhāvasaṃśuddhirityetattapo māna…Serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, purity of heart, this is called austerity of the mind.Gita 17.17-19śraddhayā parayā taptaṃ tapastattrividhaṃ naraiḥ | aphalākāṅkṣibhiryuktaiḥ sāttv…This threefold austerity, practised with supreme faith by harmonised persons desiring no fruit, is called sattvic. Auste…Gita 17.20dātavyamiti yaddānaṃ dīyate'nupakāriṇe | deśe kāle ca pātre ca taddānaṃ sāttvika…Charity given as a duty, to a worthy recipient who can make no return, at the right place and time, that charity is held…Gita 17.21-22yattu pratyupakārārthaṃ phalamuddiśya vā punaḥ | dīyate ca parikliṣṭaṃ taddānaṃ …But charity given to obtain a return, or aiming at fruit, or given grudgingly, that is held to be rajasic. Charity given…Gita 17.23oṃtatsaditi nirdeśo brahmaṇastrividhaḥ smṛtaḥ | brāhmaṇāstena vedāśca yajñāśca v…OM TAT SAT, this has been declared the threefold designation of Brahman; by this were ordained of old the brahmins, the …Gita 17.24-27tasmādomityudāhṛtya yajñadānatapaḥkriyāḥ | pravartante vidhānoktāḥ satataṃ brahm…Therefore the acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity of the expounders of Brahman always begin with the utterance of …Gita 17.28aśraddhayā hutaṃ dattaṃ tapastaptaṃ kṛtaṃ ca yat | asadityucyate pārtha na ca ta…Whatever is sacrificed, given, or performed, and whatever austerity is practised without faith, O Partha, it is called A…
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All 18 chapters
1Arjuna Vishada YogaThe Yoga of Arjuna's Despair2Sankhya YogaThe Yoga of Knowledge3Karma YogaThe Yoga of Action4Jnana Karma Sanyasa YogaKnowledge & Renunciation of Action5Karma Sanyasa YogaThe Yoga of Renunciation6Dhyana YogaThe Yoga of Meditation7Jnana Vijnana YogaKnowledge of the Absolute8Akshara Brahma YogaThe Imperishable Absolute9Raja Vidya Raja Guhya YogaThe Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret10Vibhuti YogaThe Yoga of Divine Glories11Vishvarupa Darshana YogaThe Vision of the Universal Form12Bhakti YogaThe Yoga of Devotion13Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga YogaThe Field & the Knower of the Field14Gunatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Gunas15Purushottama YogaThe Supreme Person16Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga YogaThe Divine & Demonic Natures17Shraddhatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Kinds of Faith18Moksha Sanyasa YogaLiberation through Renunciation