Bhagavad Gita 17.1
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 1 of 28 · Arjuna's Journey
ये शास्त्रविधिम् उत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः । तेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वम् आहो रजस् तमः ॥
ye śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ | teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvam āho rajas tamaḥ ||
Arjuna asks: those who perform yajña with sincere śraddhā but without śāstric ordinance — what guṇa is their state?
Word by word (3)
- ye śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
- — those (ye) who, having abandoned (utsṛjya) the scriptural ordinance (śāstra-vidhi), perform yajña (yajante) endowed with śraddhā (śraddhayā-anvitāḥ) — the question's precise framing: sincere faith but without śāstric framework
- teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa
- — what (kā) then (tu) is the niṣṭhā (fixed state/condition/standing) of those (teṣām), O Krishna? — niṣṭhā = the spiritual state they occupy
- sattvam āho rajas tamaḥ
- — is it sattva? Or (āho = or, whether) rajas or tamas? — the three guṇa classification applied to this special case
Arjuna said: Those who perform sacrifice with faith but setting aside scriptural ordinance — what is their condition, O Krishna? Is it sattva, rajas, or tamas?
A modern analogy
Arjuna is asking: if someone prays with a full heart but outside the established tradition — what does that count as? This is a perennial question about the relationship between sincere faith and formal religious structure. Ch.17 is Krishna's nuanced answer to this exact tension.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
MISSING — SH Ch.17 V1 not indexed; Ganguli and Telang used as primary. [1]
Those who, setting aside the ordinance of the Shastra, perform sacrifice with Shraddha, what is their condition, O Krishna? Is it Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas? [4]
Those who perform sacrifice with faith, but abandoning the ordinances of scripture — what is their condition, O Krishna? Is it goodness, passion, or darkness? [9]
What is the state, O Krishna, of those who abandoning the ordinance of the scriptures, perform sacrifices endued with faith? It is one of Goodness, or Passion, or Darkness? [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
OṀ Tat Sat: triple name of Brahman — by which brāhmaṇas, Vedas, and yajñas were ordained in the beginning.
Whatever is sacrificed, given, done, or tapas practiced without śraddhā — that is asat: naught here or hereafter.
Three-fold impulse to action: knowledge, knowable, knower. Three-fold action-structure: organ, act, agent.
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Whatever you do, eat, offer, give, or practise as austerity — do it all as mad-arpaṇam, an offering to Me.
Verse 1 of 28 · back to Chapter 17