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Chapter 17 · Verse 1
🏹 Arjuna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 17, Verse 1

ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः। तेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वमाहो रजस्तमः॥

ye śāstravidhimutsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ | teṣāṁ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvamāho rajastamaḥ ||

Word by Word 15 words
ये
yad who, which

those who

शास्त्रविधिम्
śās to teach, to instruct tra instrument of vi apart dhā to place, to ordain

the rule of scripture, the ordained way

उत्सृज्य
ut up, away sṛj to release, to let go

having set aside, having let go of

यजन्ते
yaj to worship, to offer

they worship, they offer

श्रद्धया
śrat heart, trust dhā to place, to hold

with faith

अन्विताः
anu along, following i to go

filled with, accompanied by

तेषाम्
tad them ām genitive plural, of

of those, their

निष्ठा
ni down, firmly sthā to stand

standing, state, where they stand

तु
tu but, indeed

but, indeed

का
kim what, which

what, which

कृष्ण
kṛṣ to draw, to attract ṇa one who

O Krishna

सत्त्वम्
sat being, real tva -ness

sattva, the quality of brightness and clarity

आहो
āho or, or else

or

रजः
rañj to colour, to be moved

rajas, the quality of restlessness and passion

तमः
tam to grow dark, to be still

tamas, the quality of darkness and dullness

asks a careful question: "Some people don't follow the rules written in the scriptures, yet they worship with their whole heart, full of faith. So where do they stand? Is their faith bright and clear, or restless, or dull?" He wants to know which of the three qualities, , , or , guides a person who believes deeply but follows no rulebook.

कथा

The Question About Faith

From the mahabharata

The teaching had been going on for a long time.

Across seventeen turns of the conversation, had spoken to about the soul, about duty, about working without grasping for rewards. He had shown his cosmic form, vast as the night sky. He had spoken of the three qualities, , , , that colour everything a person does, the way three different dyes colour cloth.

had been listening so hard that his whole body had gone still. But something had snagged in his mind, like a thread caught on a thorn, and he could not let it go.

He thought of the people back home. Not the great sages who knew every line of the scriptures. He thought of his old nurse, who had never read a holy book in her life but lit a small lamp every single evening and folded her hands with her eyes shut tight and her lips moving. He thought of the cowherds and the potters and the women drawing water at the well, who worshipped with everything they had and never once asked whether they were doing it the "correct" way.

What about them?

"," he said, and the great archer's voice was almost shy. "Here is something I do not understand."

turned, the reins loose in his hands, his eyes patient.

"There are people who set the scripture's rules aside — not out of pride, but simply because they never learned them. And yet they worship full of faith. Their hearts are completely in it." spread his hands. "Where do such people stand? Is their faith the bright kind — ? Or the restless kind — ? Or the heavy, dim kind — ?"

The question hung in the still air between the two armies.

It was a kind question, noticed. was not trying to catch anyone out. He was worried for the simple, faithful people he loved, and he wanted to know that their faith counted for something.

smiled, the way a teacher smiles when a student finally asks the question that opens the next door.

"Ah," he said. "Now we come to faith itself. Listen, — for faith, too, has three colours, and I will show you all three."

चिन्तनम्

Do you think someone who prays or believes with their whole heart, but doesn't know all the 'proper' rules, is doing something real? Why?