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Chapter 17 · The Divisions of Faith · 28 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Questions & crisisChapter 17 · The Divisions of Faith
16.2417.2

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 17.1

Arjuna asks about faith without scriptural guidance

Prakṛti · Material nature

अर्जुन उवाच

ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विता: ।

तेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वमाहो रजस्तम: ॥ १ ॥

arjuna uvāca

ye śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya

yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ

teṣāṁ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa

sattvam āho rajas tamaḥ

Translation

Arjuna inquired: O Kṛṣṇa, what is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of scripture but worship according to their own imagination? Are they in goodness, in passion or in ignorance?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Faith Without Scriptural Guidance

  1. 1

    Arjuna asks whether worship based on imagination rather than scripture is in goodness, passion or ignorance.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains Arjuna’s doubt: can faithful worship outside scriptural rules lead to real knowledge and perfection?

  3. 3

    Consider whether your worship follows scripture or your own imagination.

Key points from the purport

Arjuna inquires about the situation of those who do not follow the principles of scriptures but worship according to their own imagination. Are they in goodness, passion or ignorance

a

Faithful — A person faithful to a particular type of worship (Ref. Bg. 4.39)

Becomes gradually elevated to a stage of knowledge

Attains the highest perfectional stage of peace and prosperity

b

Demonaic — One who does not follow the principles of scripture is a demon and one who follows is a demigod (Ref. Bg. 16.23 – 16.24)

c

Intermediate category — Arjuna inquires about such categories

If one with faith, follows some rules not mentioned in scriptural injunctions, what is his position

Are those who create some God by selecting a human being and placing their faith in him, worshipping in goodness, passion or ignorance

Do such persons attain the perfectional stage of life

Do those who do not follow the rules of scriptures but have faith in something and worship gods and demigods and men attain success in their effort

Further reading

The Modes Determine One’s Faith And One’s Worship

Arjuna asks about the situation of one who worships, but not according to sastra

Krishna replies that one who doesn’t follow sastra worships according to the faith dictated by his acquired modes of material nature

Chapter 17, section I: The Modes Determine One’s Faith And One’s Worship
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. arjunaḥ uvācaArjuna said
  2. yethose who
  3. śāstra-vidhimthe regulations of scripture
  4. utsṛjyagiving up
  5. yajanteworship
  6. śraddhayāfull faith
  7. anvitāḥpossessed of
  8. teṣāmof them
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 17.1 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?

Practice

Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 1.28Compassion entangled with attachmentBG 1.46The bow falls
Live this todayFaith and the ModesA practice from BG 17.3, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
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