17.3 As your faith is, so are you Krishna speaks
सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत
श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्धः स एव सः
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śhraddhā bhavati bhārata
śhraddhā-mayo ‘yaṁ puruṣho yo yach-chhraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ
Everyone's faith accords with their nature, Arjuna. A person is made of their faith: as their faith is, so are they.
Explanation
A person is made of their faith.
śraddhāmayo 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ — and then: as their faith is, so are they.
The most quietly radical line in the chapter. Not faith determines your reward but faith as the material a person is composed of, which makes the grading that follows a description of people rather than of their observances.
Going further
Word by word
- sattva-anurūpā
- conforming to the nature of one’s mind
- sarvasya
- all
- śhraddhā
- faith
- bhavati
- is
- bhārata
- Arjun, the scion of Bharat
- śhraddhāmayaḥ
- possessing faith
- ayam
- that
- puruṣhaḥ
- human being
- yaḥ
- who
- yat-śhraddhaḥ
- whatever the nature of their faith
- saḥ
- their
- eva
- verily
- saḥ
- they
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Śhraddhāmayo 'yaṁ puruṣho yo yach-chhraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ — a person is made of their faith: as their faith is, so are they.
The most quietly radical line in the chapter. Not faith determines your reward but faith is what you are made of. It also explains the structure of everything that follows: if a person is constituted by what they trust, then food, giving and austerity will all come in the same three kinds.