17.2 Faith itself comes in three Krishna speaks
त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनां सा स्वभावजा
सात्त्विकी राजसी चैव तामसी चेति तां श्रृणु
tri-vidhā bhavati śhraddhā dehināṁ sā svabhāva-jā
sāttvikī rājasī chaiva tāmasī cheti tāṁ śhṛiṇu
The faith of the embodied is of three kinds, arising from their own nature: of clarity, of restlessness and of inertia. Hear of them.
Explanation
The answer moves the question one level down.
Faith is not a single thing you either have or lack. It comes in three kinds, arising from a person's own nature, and the three are the strands of chapter 14.
Which reframes Arjuna's question entirely. He asked where do they stand, expecting a verdict; he is told that faith has grades and the verdict depends on which one.
Word by word
- śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
- the Supreme Personality said
- tri-vidhā
- of three kinds
- bhavati
- is
- śhraddhā
- faith
- dehinām
- embodied beings
- sā
- which
- sva-bhāva-jā
- born of one’s innate nature
- sāttvikī
- of the mode of goodness
- rājasī
- of the mode of passion
- cha
- and
- eva
- certainly
- tāmasī
- of the mode of ignorance
- cha
- and
- iti
- thus
- tām
- about this
- śhṛiṇu
- hear
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