Ashraddhaya Hutam Dattam

The chapter ends with a single, decisive statement. Whatever is offered in fire, whatever is given in charity, whatever austerity is practiced, whatever deed is done — if it is done without faith, it is called "asat." It bears no fruit in this world. It bears no fruit after death.

This is the thread that holds the entire chapter together. Krishna classified faith, food, sacrifice, austerity, and charity into three types. He taught the meaning of Om Tat Sat. And now he closes with the one principle that underlies all of it: without shraddha, nothing counts.

Faith is the foundation on which all of spiritual life stands. A building without a foundation cannot stand, no matter how grand it looks. In the same way, rituals, charity, and discipline without faith are hollow. That is the final word of Chapter 17.

This is the concluding shloka of Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Chapter 17). The chapter opened with Arjuna's question about faith and closes with Krishna's definitive answer: faith is the root of all meaningful action. Without it, even the grandest sacrifice or the most severe austerity yields nothing. The entire chapter — from the classification of faith and worship through food, sacrifice, austerity, charity, and Om Tat Sat — converges on this single truth: shraddha is everything.