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Chapter 17 · The Divisions of Faith · 28 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.

Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›

Bhakti & surrenderChapter 17 · The Divisions of Faith

17.24 17.26

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 17.25

Om Tat Sat, spiritual faith and proper intention

Īśvara · God

तदित्यनभिसन्धाय फलं यज्ञतप:क्रिया: ।

दानक्रियाश्च विविधा: क्रियन्ते मोक्षकाङ्‌‍क्षिभि: ॥ २५ ॥

tad ity anabhisandhāya

phalaṁ yajña-tapaḥ-kriyāḥ

dāna-kriyāś ca vividhāḥ

kriyante mokṣa-kāṅkṣibhiḥ

Translation

Without desiring fruitive results, one should perform various kinds of sacrifice, penance and charity with the word tat. The purpose of such transcendental activities is to get free from material entanglement.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

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

3 study points

Act Without Material Gain

1
Perform sacrifice, penance and charity with the word tat, without seeking rewards, to become free from material entanglement.
2
Prabhupāda explains that the ultimate gain is to return to the spiritual kingdom, back home, back to Godhead.
3
Practice sacrifice, penance and charity for spiritual progress, not material gain.

Key points from the purport

Describes ‘tat’

‘Tat’ describes detached work for the sake of liberation

Purpose – Freedom from material entanglement

These activities are done with disregard for fruitive results

The Conclusion: Om Tat Sat

All activities are contaminated by the modes

These defects can be offset by acting, even if within the modes of nature, in Krishna’s service:

“Om tat sat”

Conclusion is that when sacrifice, penance and austerity are performed without faith in the Supreme – without a transcendental goal – they are useless in this life and next

Chapter 17, section VI: The Conclusion: Om Tat Sat