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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 ›
Nature & guṇasChapter 17 · The Divisions of Faith
17.317.5

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 17.4

Faith shaped by the three guṇas

Prakṛti · Material nature

यजन्ते सात्त्विका देवान्यक्षरक्षांसि राजसा: ।

प्रेतान्भूतगणांश्चान्ये यजन्ते तामसा जना: ॥ ४ ॥

yajante sāttvikā devān

yakṣa-rakṣāṁsi rājasāḥ

pretān bhūta-gaṇāṁś cānye

yajante tāmasā janāḥ

Translation

Men in the mode of goodness worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.

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

Worship and the Material Modes

  1. 1

    People in goodness worship demigods; those in passion worship demons; those in ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that only the Supreme Personality of Godhead is truly worshipable. Those in pure goodness worship Him beyond the material modes.

  3. 3

    Associate with spiritually pure persons to become purified of the material modes.

Key points from the purport

Different worship according to the modes

Goodness – Worship demigods for a particular purpose

e.g. Brahma, Shiva, Chandra, Indra and Sun god (purport)

Passion – Worship demons

e.g. A man worshiping Hitler during Second World War (purport)

Ignorance – Worship ghosts and spirits

e.g. Worshiping dead spirits, ghosts, sexual service (purport)

a

Different kinds of worshipers are described according to external activities

Scriptural injunctions: Only the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshipable

Ref. SB 4.3.23 “sattvam vishuddham vasudev sabditam”– Man in pure goodness, worships Vasudeva

Cause of different worships – Those not so conversant / faithful with the scriptures worship differently according to the modes

b

Impersonalists

Supposed to be in mode of goodness

Worship five kinds of demigods (See SB 6.4.34 purport for further elaboration)

Worship impersonal Vishnu form in the material world, known as philosophized Vishnu

Because they do not ultimately believe in the Supreme Personality of Godhead

They imagine that the Vishnu form is just another aspect of the impersonal Brahman

Similarly, they imagine that Lord Brahma is the impersonal form in the material mode of passion

Think that actual truth is impersonal Brahman, they dispose of all worshipable objects (e.g. Five gods) at the ultimate end

c

Conclusion — How to purify different qualities of the material modes of nature

Through association with persons of transcendental nature

Connected verses · 1

Texts 17.4 & 17.5

Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana explains that Texts 17.2 — 17.4 describe

those who have given up sastra out of laziness or because the required worship was troublesome, yet faithfully worship the demigods. Texts 17.5 – 17.6, in contrast, describe not those who have whimsically given up following sastra but those who are against Vedic practices.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. yajanteworship
  2. sāttvikāḥthose who are in the mode of goodness
  3. devāndemigods
  4. yakṣa-rakṣāṁsidemons
  5. rājasāḥthose who are in the mode of passion
  6. pretānspirits of the dead
  7. bhūta-gaṇānghosts
  8. caand
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: prakṛti, guṇa.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 17.4 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to nature & guṇas?

Practice

Observe which mode shaped your last decision.

5

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 17 ›
6

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 17.2Faith shaped by the three guṇasBG 17.3Faith shaped by the three guṇasBG 7.14Crossing beyond māyā
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
Next in Learn · 4 of 9 · 10 minChapters & storiesGo chapter by chapter, with the Mahābhārata stories that explain what is happening.Back · LearnPrabhupāda's Introduction