{"entry":{"slug":"bg-chapter-17","title":"Bhagavad Gīta Chapter 17 — Śraddhā-traya-vibhāga Yoga","devanagari":"श्रद्धात्रयविभागयोग","iast":"śraddhā-traya-vibhāga-yoga","type":"bg-chapter","url":"https://thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-17/","codex":"sanatana-dharma","last_verified":"2026-05","confidence":"high"},"chapter":{"number":17,"name":"Śraddhā-traya-vibhāga-yoga","name_translation":"The Yoga of the Analysis of the Three Types of Faith","verses":28,"speaker_primary":"Kṛṣṇa (throughout); Arjuna (17.1)","key_verses":["17.3","17.4","17.8–17.10","17.14–17.19","17.20–17.22","17.23–17.27","17.28"]},"summary":"Arjuna's question picks up from BG 16 — what about those who act with faith but outside scriptural injunction? BG 17.3: the faith of every person is in accordance with their inner nature — śraddhāmayo 'yaṃ puruṣaḥ (one is whatever one's faith is). The chapter applies the three-Guṇa analysis to five domains: faith (17.4), food (17.8–17.10), sacrifice (17.11–17.13), austerity (17.14–17.19, with the three kinds — bodily, verbal, mental), and charity (17.20–17.22). Closes with the Oṃ Tat Sat formula (17.23–17.27) and the warning that action done without faith is Asat (17.28).","BG_17_3":{"iast":"sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata / śraddhāmayo 'yaṃ puruṣo yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ","translation":"The faith of every person is in accordance with their inner nature, O Bhārata. A person is made of their faith. One is whatever their faith is.","note":"The philosophical centrepiece: faith is the expression of the whole being's orientation. Where the Guṇas are, there is the faith; where the faith is, there is the person."},"five_domains_analysis":{"faith":{"sattvic":"worship of the gods (devas)","rajasic":"worship of Yakṣas and Rākṣasas","tamasic":"worship of ghosts and spirits"},"food":{"sattvic":"juicy, smooth, substantial, agreeable — promoting longevity, vitality, strength, health, happiness","rajasic":"bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry, burning — producing pain, grief, sickness","tamasic":"stale, tasteless, putrid, leftover — impure"},"sacrifice":{"sattvic":"offered as ordained, no expectation of reward, focused mind","rajasic":"offered with expectation of reward or ostentation","tamasic":"without proper knowledge, without mantra, without faith, without giving food"},"austerity":{"three_kinds":"Bodily (kāya-tapaḥ): reverence to gods/teachers/wise; purity; uprightness; brahmacarya; non-injury. Verbal (vāṅ-maya-tapaḥ): no agitation to others; truth; gentle; beneficial; Vedic study. Mental (mānasa-tapaḥ): serenity; gentleness; silence; self-control; purity of disposition.","sattvic":"all three performed with faith, without desire for fruit, by one unshaken","rajasic":"performed for honour, respect, ostentation — result unstable and transient","tamasic":"performed with deluded stubborn foolishness, torturing the self or to harm another"},"charity":{"sattvic":"given as duty, to one who can give nothing in return, at right place/time/to worthy recipient","rajasic":"given with reluctance, expecting return, or for reward","tamasic":"given at wrong place/time, to unworthy recipient, without respect or with contempt"}},"om_tat_sat":{"verse":"17.23: oṃ tat sad iti nirdeśo brahmaṇas tri-vidhaḥ smṛtaḥ / brāhmaṇās tena vedāś ca yajñāś ca vihitāḥ purā","meaning":{"Om":"the primordial syllable, designation of Brahman — used at the beginning of all Vedic acts","Tat":"'that' — indicates Brahman as the transcendent absolute; used in dedication of acts: 'that, not I, is the doer.' For acts performed without aiming at fruit by seekers of liberation.","Sat":"'being/good/real' — indicates Brahman as existence and goodness; used for righteous acts, auspicious acts, acts of genuine virtue"},"application":"BG 17.24: begin with Oṃ (orientation to Brahman). BG 17.25: dedicate with Tat (offering to the transcendent without personal claim). BG 17.26–17.27: Sat for righteous/virtuous acts."},"BG_17_28":{"iast":"aśraddhayā hutaṃ dattaṃ tapas taptaṃ kṛtaṃ ca yat / asad ity ucyate pārtha na ca tat pretya no iha","translation":"Whatever is offered, given, performed as austerity, or done without faith — it is said to be Asat. It benefits neither in this world nor in the hereafter.","note":"Aśraddhā (absence of faith) makes action Asat — without genuine being, without lasting fruit. Closes the circle on the chapter's analysis."},"sources":[{"tier":1,"citation":"BG 17.1–17.28 with Śaṅkara Gītābhāṣya · Gambhirananda (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 663–698"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 393–406"}],"navigation":{"previous":{"chapter":16,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-16/","name":"Daivāsura-Sampada-vibhāga Yoga"},"next":{"chapter":18,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-18/","name":"Mokṣa-Saṃnyāsa Yoga"}},"provenance":{"confidence":"high","last_verified":"2026-05","citation":"\"BG Chapter 17 — Sanātana Dharma Codex\", thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-17/, last updated May 2026."}}