Sacred Scripture / Chapter 17
28 published verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita (श्रद्धात्रयविभागयोगः). The Yoga of Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga. Arjuna asks about people who worship with faith while setting aside scriptural guidance. Krishna explains faith according to sattva, rajas and tamas, and connects inward disposition with the ideals people worship. He rejects harsh, ego-driven austerity that torments the body. The chapter examines food, sacrifice, austerity and giving through the same threefold framework. Bodily, verbal and mental discipline include nonviolence, truthful and beneficial speech, serenity and pure intention. Generosity is assessed through motive, timing, suitability and respect. The concluding teaching on Om, Tat and Sat joins sacred practice with Brahman, release of reward-seeking and steadfast goodness. Action without faith is described as spiritually unfruitful.
Explore original Sanskrit, word-by-word padartha, trilingual translations, commentary, reflections, and modern life applications.
28 verses
Verse 17.1
ye śāstravidhimutsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ | teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvamāho rajastamaḥ ||1||
Arjuna said: Krishna, what is the standing of those who worship with faith but set aside scriptural guidance? Is it sattva, rajas or tamas?
Verse 17.2
trividhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṃ sā svabhāvajā | sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ceti tāṃ śṛṇu ||2||
The Lord said: The faith of embodied beings, born of their own nature, is threefold: sattvic, rajasic and tamasic. Hear about it.
Verse 17.3
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata | śraddhāmayo'yaṃ puruṣo yo yacchraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ ||3||
Everyone's faith accords with their inner disposition, O Bharata. A person is shaped by faith: whatever their faith, such they become.
Verse 17.4
yajante sāttvikā devānyakṣarakṣāṃsi rājasāḥ | pretānbhūtagaṇāṃścānye yajante tāmasā janāḥ ||4||
Sattvic people worship the devas, rajasic people yakshas and rakshasas, and tamasic people departed spirits and hosts of beings.
Verse 17.5
aśāstravihitaṃ ghoraṃ tapyante ye tapo janāḥ | dambhāhaṅkārasaṃyuktāḥ kāmarāgabalānvitāḥ ||5||
Those who practice terrible austerities not prescribed by scripture, joined with hypocrisy and ego and driven by desire and attachment—
Verse 17.6
karṣayantaḥ śarīrasthaṃ bhūtagrāmamacetasaḥ | māṃ caivāntaḥśarīrasthaṃ tānviddhyāsuraniścayān ||6||
Senselessly tormenting the elements dwelling in the body and Me dwelling within it, know such people as having demonic resolve.
Verse 17.7
āhārastvapi sarvasya trividho bhavati priyaḥ | yajñastapastathā dānaṃ teṣāṃ bhedamimaṃ śṛṇu ||7||
The food preferred by each person is also threefold, as are sacrifice, austerity and giving. Hear their distinctions.
Verse 17.8
āyuḥsattvabalārogyasukhaprītivivardhanāḥ | rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirā hṛdyā āhārāḥ sāttvikapriyāḥ ||8||
Foods that increase life, vitality, strength, health, happiness and satisfaction, and are juicy, nourishing, sustaining and pleasing, are dear to sattvic people.
Verse 17.9
kaṭvamlalavaṇātyuṣṇatīkṣṇarūkṣavidāhinaḥ | āhārā rājasasyeṣṭā duḥkhaśokāmayapradāḥ ||9||
Foods that are excessively bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are preferred by rajasic people and bring pain, distress and illness.
Verse 17.10
yātayāmaṃ gatarasaṃ pūti paryuṣitaṃ ca yat | ucchiṣṭamapi cāmedhyaṃ bhojanaṃ tāmasapriyam ||10||
Food that is stale, tasteless, putrid, long kept, leftover after another's eating, or impure is dear to tamasic people.
Verse 17.11
aphalākāṅkṣibhiryajño vidhidṛṣṭo ya ijyate | yaṣṭavyameveti manaḥ samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ ||11||
A sacrifice performed according to guidance by those who desire no reward, with the mind settled that it ought to be done, is sattvic.
Verse 17.12
abhisandhāya tu phalaṃ dambhārthamapi caiva yat | ijyate bharataśreṣṭha taṃ yajñaṃ viddhi rājasam ||12||
But a sacrifice performed with a reward in view or for display, O best of the Bharatas, know to be rajasic.
Verse 17.13
vidhihīnamasṛṣṭānnaṃ mantrahīnamadakṣiṇam | śraddhāvirahitaṃ yajñaṃ tāmasaṃ paricakṣate ||13||
A sacrifice without proper guidance, distribution of food, mantras, offering to the officiants or faith is called tamasic.
Verse 17.14
devadvijaguruprājñapūjanaṃ śaucamārjavam | brahmacaryamahiṃsā ca śārīraṃ tapa ucyate ||14||
Reverence for devas, twice-born people, teachers and the wise; purity, straightforwardness, chastity and nonviolence are called bodily austerity.
Verse 17.15
anudvegakaraṃ vākyaṃ satyaṃ priyahitaṃ ca yat | svādhyāyābhyasanaṃ caiva vāṅmayaṃ tapa ucyate ||15||
Speech that does not cause agitation, is truthful, pleasing and beneficial, along with regular study and recitation, is called austerity of speech.
Verse 17.16
manaḥprasādaḥ saumyatvaṃ maunamātmavinigrahaḥ | bhāvasaṃśuddhirityetattapo mānasamucyate ||16||
Serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint and purity of intention are called mental austerity.
Verse 17.17
śraddhayā parayā taptaṃ tapastattrividhaṃ naraiḥ | aphalākāṅkṣibhiryuktaiḥ sāttvikaṃ paricakṣate ||17||
This threefold austerity, practiced with deep faith by disciplined people who seek no reward, is called sattvic.
Verse 17.18
satkāramānapūjārthaṃ tapo dambhena caiva yat | kriyate tadiha proktaṃ rājasaṃ calamadhruvam ||18||
Austerity practiced for honor, recognition and reverence, or hypocritically for display, is called rajasic here; it is unstable and impermanent.
Verse 17.19
mūḍhagrāheṇātmano yatpīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ | parasyotsādanārthaṃ vā tattāmasamudāhṛtam ||19||
Austerity practiced with deluded obstinacy, by tormenting oneself or for another's destruction, is called tamasic.
Verse 17.20
dātavyamiti yaddānaṃ dīyate'nupakāriṇe | deśe kāle ca pātre ca taddānaṃ sāttvikaṃ smṛtam ||20||
Giving offered because it ought to be given, to one who cannot repay, in a fitting place and time and to a suitable recipient, is sattvic.
Verse 17.21
yattu pratyupakārārthaṃ phalamuddiśya vā punaḥ | dīyate ca parikliṣṭaṃ taddānaṃ rājasaṃ smṛtam ||21||
Giving offered for repayment or with a reward in view, or given reluctantly, is regarded as rajasic.
Verse 17.22
adeśakāle yaddānamapātrebhyaśca dīyate | asatkṛtamavajñātaṃ tattāmasamudāhṛtam ||22||
Giving offered at an unsuitable place or time, to unsuitable recipients, without respect and with contempt, is called tamasic.
Verse 17.23
oṃ tatsaditi nirdeśo brahmaṇastrividhaḥ smṛtaḥ | brāhmaṇāstena vedāśca yajñāśca vihitāḥ purā ||23||
Om, Tat, Sat is remembered as the threefold designation of Brahman. By it the brahmanas, Vedas and sacrifices were established in ancient times.
Verse 17.24
tasmādomityudāhṛtya yajñadānatapaḥkriyāḥ | pravartante vidhānoktāḥ satataṃ brahmavādinām ||24||
Therefore those who speak of Brahman always begin prescribed acts of sacrifice, giving and austerity by uttering Om.
Verse 17.25
tadityanabhisandhāya phalaṃ yajñatapaḥkriyāḥ | dānakriyāśca vividhāḥ kriyante mokṣakāṅkṣibhiḥ ||25||
Uttering Tat without seeking a reward, seekers of liberation perform sacrifice, austerity and various acts of giving.
Verse 17.26
sadbhāve sādhubhāve ca sadityetatprayujyate | praśaste karmaṇi tathā sacchabdaḥ pārtha yujyate ||26||
Sat is used in the sense of being and goodness; the word Sat is also used for a worthy action, O Partha.
Verse 17.27
yajñe tapasi dāne ca sthitiḥ saditi cocyate | karma caiva tadarthīyaṃ sadityevābhidhīyate ||27||
Steadfastness in sacrifice, austerity and giving is also called Sat, and action undertaken for their sake is likewise called Sat.
Verse 17.28
aśraddhayā hutaṃ dattaṃ tapastaptaṃ kṛtaṃ ca yat | asadityucyate pārtha na ca tatpretya no iha ||28||
Whatever is offered, given, practiced as austerity or otherwise done without faith is called Asat, O Partha; it bears no fruit here or after death.
