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Chapter 17
Link:- A man, who does not know the ordinance of the scripture, is endowed with faith, of one type or the other. The three kinds of that innate faith, are described in the next verse.
sribhagavdnuvdca
trividha bhavati sraddha dehinam sa svabhavaja
sattviki rajasi caiva tamasi ceti tam srnu
The Blessed Lord said:-
The faith of human beings, born of their own nature, is of three kinds - ssttvika (good), rajasika (passionate) and tamasika (ignorant). Now hear about this. 2
Comment:-
[Arjuna put the question to know, where they stand, while the Lord answers his question, according to their faith, because they stand, as is their faith.]
Trividha bhavati sraddha dehinam sa svabhavaja:- Faith is of three kinds. Now the question arises, whether that faith is born of company, learning of scriptures, or of innate nature. The answer is, that it is born of their nature. By having this faith, people worship the gods etc.
'Sattviki rajasi caiva tamasi cell tam srnu' - The faith born of nature, is of three kinds - shttvika (good), rajasa (passionate) and tamasa (ignorant). Lord Krsna, asks Arjuna to hear about these three, from Him.
In the preceding verse, in the expression 'Sattvamaho rajastamah; the conjunction 'Aho (Or), has been used, which denotes that according to Arjuna 'sattvam' (good), stands for divine nature, while rajastamah' (passionate-ignorant) stand, for demoniac nature. It means, that according to him, there are only two divisions. As far as bondage is concerned, the Lord also includes both the rajas and the tamas, in demoniac nature, when he declares that demoniac nature is conducive to bondage[1]. But, there is a difference between the two - the rajas and the tamas. The rajasa (passionate) people, perform actions, according to ordinance of scriptures to get their fruit. So having enjoyed, in heaven the heavenly pleasure, they enter (return to) the world of mortals, when their merit is exhausted[2]- But the tamasa (ignorant) people do not perform actions, according to ordinances of the scripture. So they sink deep[3]. Thus the Lord, divides the faith of people, possessing a demoniac nature, into two parts, the rajas and the tamas, and asks Arjuna to hear from him, of the three kinds of faith - shttvika, rajasa and tamasa, separately.
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