📿 Shloka Collection

Trividha Bhavati Shraddha

Gita 17.2 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17 — Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
श्रीभगवानुवाच — त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनां सा स्वभावजा ।
सात्त्विकी राजसी चैव तामसी चेति तां शृणु ॥
Shri Bhagavan uvacha — trividha bhavati shraddha dehinaam sa svabhavaja,
Sattviki rajasi chaiva tamasi cheti taam shrinu.
त्रिविधा
threefold
भवति
is
श्रद्धा
faith
देहिनाम्
of embodied beings
सा
that
स्वभावजा
born of one's nature
सात्त्विकी
sattvic
राजसी
rajasic
तामसी
tamasic
शृणु
listen

Krishna answers immediately and directly. Every living being's faith comes in three varieties — sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic. And this faith is not random. It arises from the person's own inner nature. Whichever guna dominates within, that person's faith will reflect it.

Consider a garden where different plants produce different flowers. In the same way, people of different inner constitutions naturally gravitate toward different objects of faith. One person is drawn to knowledge and peace, another to power and display, and yet another to superstition and darkness.

Krishna tells Arjuna: listen, I will explain all three in detail. This single shloka sets up the framework for the entire chapter.

This shloka introduces the core principle of Chapter 17: faith is not one uniform thing. It takes its color from the person's inner disposition. The classification into three gunas will now be applied to worship (17.4), food (17.7-10), sacrifice (17.11-13), austerity (17.14-19), and charity (17.20-22).

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