Bhagavad Gita—Chapter Seventeen

The Yoga of the Division of Threefold Faith

Arjuna said:
Those who set aside prescriptions
Of scriptures, doing sacrifice
With faith, what is their condition:
Sattwa, or rajas, or tamas? (1)

The Holy Lord said:
Threefold is the embodieds’ faith
Inherent within their nature–
The sattwic, rajasic, and the
Tamasic. Do you hear of it. (2)

Each one’s faith is according to
His natural disposition.
Yea, the man consists of his faith;
In truth, he is what his faith is. (3)

The sattwic men worship the gods;
Rajasic: Yakshas, rakshasas;
The others–the tamasic men–
The pretas1 and hosts of bhutas.2 (4)

Those of extreme austerities–
Unscriptural–given to show
And egoity, impelled by
The force of lust and attachment, (5)

Do torture, senseless as they are,
All the organs in the body,
And Me, the body’s indweller.
Know them as of demonic will. (6)

The food also liked by each one
Is threefold, as is sacrifice,
Austerity, and almsgiving.
Hear from Me now their distinction. (7)

Food building life, purity, strength,
Health, joy, cheerfulness, appetite,
Savory, agreeable, and
Substantial–such the sattwic like. (8)

Foods that are bitter, sour, salty,
Excessively hot, pungent, dry,
And burning, the rajasic like–
Producing pain, grief, and disease. (9)

That which is stale, tasteless, stinking,
Cooked overnight, refuse, impure,
Is the food the tamasic like.
This is the truth, O Arjuna. (10)

That sacrifice which is offered
Without desire for reward and
According to scriptures’ command,
Intent, as duty, is sattwic. (11)

That which is performed, Arjuna,
Seeking for fruit, and for vain show,
Know that to be a sacrifice
Rajasic in its character. (12)

Sacrifice unscriptural and
Without the offering of food,
Without mantras, or gifts,3 or faith,
Is tamasic in character. (13)

Worship of gods, twice-born, teachers,
The wise; purity, continence,
Straightforwardness, non-injury–
Are austerity of body. (14)

Unvexing speech, agreeable,
True, beneficial, practice of
Self-study–these are said to form
What is austerity of speech. (15)

Steady serenity of mind,
Kindliness, silence, self-control, Honesty of motive–all this
Is called mental austerity. (16)

This threefold austerity done
With highest faith by those without
Desire for fruit, also steadfast
Is considered to be sattwic. (17)

Austerity practiced to gain
Welcome,4 honor, worship, and with
Ostentation, is rajasic,
Unstable, and transitory. (18)

Austerity with self-torture,
Done out of a foolish notion,
Or for the purpose of harming
Another, is called tamasic. (19)

That gift which is given to one
Who does no service in return,
In a fit place, to one worthy–
That gift is held to be sattwic. (20)

And what is given with a view
To receiving in return, or
Looking for the fruit, or again
Reluctantly, is rajasic. (21)

The gift given at the wrong place
Or time, to unworthy persons,
Without respect or with disdain,
That is declared as tamasic. (22)

“Om, Tat, Sat;” this has been declared
The triple title of Brahman.
By That were created of old
Brahmins, Vedas, and Sacrifice. (23)

Sacrifice, gifts, austerities
According to the scriptures, are
Begun with utterance of “Om,”
By the expounders of Brahman. (24)

Uttering “Tat,” without desire
For fruits–thus are sacrifice, gift,
And austerity then performed
By seekers of liberation. (25)

“Sat” is used with the meaning of
Reality and of goodness;
So also the word “Sat” is used
In the sense of auspicious acts. (26)

Steadfastness in sacrifice, gift,
And austerity is called “Sat:”5
Also action in connection
With these is designated “Sat.” (27)

Whate’er is sacrificed, given,
Or done, whate’er austerity
Is practiced without faith, is known
Here or hereafter as “Asat.”6 (28)

Om Tat Sat
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the seventeenth discourse entitled: The Yoga of the Division of Threefold Faith.

More chapters of the Bhagavad Gita:

• Introduction • Chapter One—The Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna • Chapter Two—Sankhya Yoga • Chapter Three—The Yoga of Action • Chapter Four—The Yoga of Wisdom • Chapter Five—The Yoga of Renunciation of Action • Chapter Six—The Yoga of Meditation • Chapter Seven—The Yoga of Wisdom and Realization • Chapter Eight—The Yoga of Imperishable Brahman • Chapter Nine—The Yoga of the Kingly Science and Kingly Secret • Chapter Ten—The Yoga of Divine glories • Chapter Eleven—The Yoga of the Vision of the Cosmic Form • Chapter Twelve—The Yoga of Devotion • Chapter Thirteen—The Yoga of the Distinction Between the Field and the Knower of the Field • Chapter Fourteen—The Yoga of the Division of the Three Gunas • Chapter Fifteen—The Yoga of the Supreme Spirit • Chapter Sixteen— Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal • Chapter Seventeen—The Yoga of the Division of Threefold Faith • Chapter Eighteen—The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation • Sri Maharshi Gita—An arrangement of verses of the Bhagavad Gita made by Sri Ramana Maharshi that gives an overview of the essential message of the Gita. • The Maharshi Gita sung in english. – This is an arrangement of verses of the Bhagavad Gita made by Sri Ramana Maharshi that gives an overview of the essential message of the Gita. Arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text and sung to a classical Gita melody used to chant the Gita every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India. Sung by the monks of Atma Jyoti Ashram. • To hear online audio files of the above translation of the Gita, click here.

More Bhagavad Gita Commentary by Swami Nirmalananda:
• A Practical Suggestion on Studying the Gita
1. The Battlefield of the Mind 2. The Smile of Krishna 3. Right But Wrong 4. Birth and Death–The Great Illusions 5. Experiencing The Unreal 6. The Unreal and the Real 7. The Body and the Spirit 8. Know the Atman! 9. Practical Self-Knowledge 10. Perspective on Birth and Death 11. The Wonder of the Atman 12. The Indestructible Self 13. “Happy The Warrior” 14. The Virtues of Karma Yoga 15. Religiosity Versus Religion 16. Perspective on Scriptures 17. How Not To Act 18. How To Act 19. How To Be Miserable; How To Be Free 20. Wisdom About the Wise 21. Wisdom about both the Foolish and the Wise 22. The Way of Peace 23. Calming the Storm 24. First Steps in Karma Yoga 25. From the Beginning to the End 26. The Real “Doers” 27. Our Spiritual Marching Orders 28. Freedom From Karma 29. “Nature” 30. Swadharma 31. In the Grip of the Monster 32. “Devotee and Friend” 33. The Eternal Being 34. Worshippers and the Worshipped 35. Caste and Karma 36. Action–Divine and Human 37. The Mystery of Action and Inaction 38. The Wise in Action 39. Sacrificial Offerings 40. The Worship of Brahman 41. The Core Problem 42. Action–Renounced and Performed 43. Freedom (Moksha)	44. The Brahman-Knower 45. The Goal of Karma Yoga 46. The Will of the Wise 47. The Yogi’s Retreat 48. The Yogi’s Inner Life 49. Union With Brahman 50. The Yogi’s Future 51. Success in Yoga 52. The Net and Its Weaver 53. Those Who Seek God 54. Those Who Worship God and the Gods 55. The Veil in the Mind 56. The Big Picture 57. The Sure Way To Realize God 58. Day, Night, and the Two Paths 59. The Supreme Knowledge 60. Universal Being 61. Maya–Its Dupes and Its Knowers 62. “Shall Not” Versus “Can Not” 63. Going To God 64. Wisdom and Knowing 65. Going To The Source 66. From Hearing To Seeing 67. The Wisdom of Devotion 68. Right Conduct 69. The Field and Its Knower 70. Interaction of Purusha and Prakriti 71. Seeing The One Within the All 72. The Three Gunas–Part One 73. The Cosmic Tree 74. Freedom 75. The All-pervading Reality 76. The Divine and the Demonic 77. Faith and the Three Gunas 78. Food and the Three Gunas 79. Worship and Discipline and the Gunas 80. Tapasya and the Gunas 81. Sannyasa and Tyaga 82. Deeper Insights On Action 83. The Three Gunas: Intellect and Firmness 84. The Three Kinds of Happiness 85. Freedom 86. The Great Devotee 87. The Final Words

Read the Bhagavad Gita online: The English text of the Gita posted on this Web Site is arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text so it can be sung–as it is done every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India.

2) Bhutas are ghosts and also various kinds of low-evolved spirits. [Go back]

3) That is, without offering to the priests. [Go back]

4) Satkara–hospitality with honor. [Go back]

5) Real or true. [Go back]

6) Unreal or false. [Go back]