Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga • 28 verses
Krishna explains how the three gunas influence faith, food, sacrifice, austerity, and charity. He introduces the sacred syllable 'Om Tat Sat' as the triple designation of Brahman used to consecrate all actions.
Chapter Overview
Chapter 17 examines shraddha — faith — as it is colored by the three gunas. Since the Gita has established that all of reality is permeated by tamas, rajas, and sattva, it follows that even something as fundamental as faith will take different forms depending on one's guna composition.
Sattvic faith is directed toward the divine, the sacred, and genuine spiritual values. Rajasic faith is directed toward wealth, power, and personal aggrandizement. Tamasic faith is misplaced — directed toward spirits, the demonic, or practices that harm rather than liberate.
The chapter applies this analysis to food: sattvic food (fresh, mild, nourishing) promotes health, clarity, and longevity; rajasic food (very spicy, salty, bitter, or stimulating) produces suffering and disease; tamasic food (stale, putrefied, impure) is associated with lethargy and confusion.
This same analysis is applied to sacrifice, austerity, and charity — each taking sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic forms depending on the motivation, method, and object.
The chapter concludes with the beautiful teaching of 'Om Tat Sat' — the triple designation of Brahman used to consecrate all actions, sacrifices, and gifts. 'Om' invokes the divine; 'Tat' (meaning 'That') indicates the transcendent reality; 'Sat' means the good, the true, and the real. Beginning actions with this invocation transforms ordinary activity into sacred practice.
Key Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः | तेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वमाहो रजस्तमः ||१७-१||
arjuna uvāca . ye śāstravidhimutsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ . teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvamāho rajastamaḥ ||17-1||
17.1 Arjuna said Those who, setting aside the ordinances of the scriptures, perform sacrifice with faith, what is their condition, O Krishna? Is is Sattva, Rajas or Tamas?
श्रीभगवानुवाच | त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनां सा स्वभावजा | सात्त्विकी राजसी चैव तामसी चेति तां शृणु ||१७-२||
śrībhagavānuvāca . trividhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṃ sā svabhāvajā . sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ceti tāṃ śṛṇu ||17-2||
17.2 The Blessed Lord said Threefold is the faith of the embodied, which is inherent in their nature the Sattvic (pure), the Rajasic (passionate) and the Tamasic (dark). Do thou hear of it.
सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत | श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्धः स एव सः ||१७-३||
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata . śraddhāmayo.ayaṃ puruṣo yo yacchraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ ||17-3||
17.3 The faith of each is in accordance with his nature, O Arjuna. The man consists of his faith; as a man's faith is, so is he.
यजन्ते सात्त्विका देवान्यक्षरक्षांसि राजसाः | प्रेतान्भूतगणांश्चान्ये यजन्ते तामसा जनाः ||१७-४||
yajante sāttvikā devānyakṣarakṣāṃsi rājasāḥ . pretānbhūtagaṇāṃścānye yajante tāmasā janāḥ ||17-4||
17.4 The Sattvic or the pure men worship the gods; the Rajasic or the passionate worship the Yakshas and the Rakshasas; the others (the Tamasic or the deluded people) worship the ghosts and the hosts of the nature-spirits.
अशास्त्रविहितं घोरं तप्यन्ते ये तपो जनाः | दम्भाहंकारसंयुक्ताः कामरागबलान्विताः ||१७-५||
aśāstravihitaṃ ghoraṃ tapyante ye tapo janāḥ . dambhāhaṃkārasaṃyuktāḥ kāmarāgabalānvitāḥ ||17-5||
17.5 Those men who practise terrific austerities not enjoined by the scriptures, given to hypocrisy and egoism, impelled by the force of lust and attachment.