Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-17
Three Kinds of Faith
3. The faith of everyone, O Bharata, conforms with his nature. A person is made up of faith; he is verily what his faith makes him. So, O wise Arjuna, there is no faith in the assemblage of beings, which is independent of the sattva, rajas and tamas, qualities. For this reason, faith too is three-fold, as it is constituted by the three gunas in different proportions. Although water is a preserver of life, it becomes fatal when mixed with poison, pungent when mixed with black pepper and sweet when mixed with sugarcane juice. When the tamas quality becomes dominant, one gets born and dies again and again and his faith also takes the tamas form. As there is nothing to choose between lamp-black and ink, so tamasic faith is not different from the being (66-70). Likewise in the case of a rajas-dominated person, the faith is of the rajas quality and in the case of a sattvadominated person the faith is of sattva quality. In this way, the whole world is cast in the mould of faith. But take note of the fact, that this faith has different marks, as it is under the domination of one of the three gunas. The fruit of a tree can be guessed from its flower, or the mind of a person is known, from the way he talks or the past actions of a person can be inferred from the pleasure and pain he experiences in the present life. In the same way, the three kinds of faith are known by their different signs. Hear about them now (71-75). |
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