Chapter 17 opens with one of the most consequential lines in the Gita: a person is made of their faith — whatever their faith is, that they are. From there Krishna applies the threefold analysis of the gunas to everything a religious life is made of: worship, food, sacrifice, austerity and charity, each in sattvic, rajasic and tamasic varieties. What emerges is that in almost every case the difference is not what is done but why — the same gift given as duty or for return, the same austerity practised in faith or for respect. The chapter also contains the Gita's hardest single instruction, on speech.
📘 Chapter 17 at a Glance
Name: Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
Meaning: The Threefold Faith
Verses: 28
Section: Chapters 13-18 - the Jnana shatka, on the relation between them - asi
Source: Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva
📑 Table of Contents
📖 About This Chapter
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chapter | 17 of 18 |
| Sanskrit name | Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga |
| Usually rendered | The Threefold Faith |
| Verses | 28 |
| Section (shatka) | Chapters 13-18 - the Jnana group, on the relation between them - asi |
| Part of | Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva - the Gita's 700 verses across 18 chapters |
🗺️ Where It Sits
Chapter 17 begins with a question that follows naturally from Chapter 16's appeal to scripture. Arjuna asks at 17.1: what of those who sacrifice with faith but set aside the injunctions of scripture — what is their condition? Sattva, rajas or tamas?
Krishna's answer opens with one of the most consequential verses in the Gita, at 17.3: faith is according to one's essential nature — a person is made of their faith; whatever their faith is, that they are.
📌 What the chapter then does
Having established that everyone has faith of some kind, Krishna applies the threefold analysis of Chapter 14 to everything a religious life consists of — worship, food, sacrifice, austerity and charity — showing that each comes in sattvic, rajasic and tamasic varieties. The chapter is the Gita's most systematic piece of practical classification.
🍚 The Threefold Everything (17.4–17.22)
| Sattvic | Rajasic | Tamasic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worship (17.4) | The devas | Yakshas and rakshasas | Ghosts and spirits |
| Food (17.8–10) | Increasing life, purity, strength, health, happiness; savoury, smooth, firm, agreeable | Bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, dry, burning; causing pain and disease | Stale, tasteless, putrid, left over, unclean |
| Sacrifice (17.11–13) | Offered as duty, without desire for fruit, by those who fix the mind on it | Offered with an eye to fruit, or for display | Without scriptural sanction, without food distributed, without mantra, gift or faith |
| Austerity (17.17–19) | Practised with supreme faith, without desire for fruit | Done for show, to gain respect, honour or reverence; unstable and impermanent | Undertaken through foolish stubbornness, with self-torture, or to harm another |
| Charity (17.20–22) | Given as duty, to a worthy person, at the right place and time, expecting no return | Given reluctantly, expecting return, or with a view to the fruit | Given at the wrong place and time, to unworthy persons, without respect or with contempt |
💡 What the table is actually saying
In almost every row, the difference between sattvic and rajasic is not what is done but why. The same charity given as duty is sattvic and given for return is rajasic; the same austerity practised with faith is sattvic and practised for respect is rajasic. Only the food row and the tamasic column concern the act itself. The chapter is largely an analysis of motive.
🗣️ The Three Austerities (17.14–17.16)
Before classifying austerity by guna, Krishna divides it by domain — and the middle one is the most quoted:
- Austerity of the body (17.14) — worship of the gods, the twice-born, teachers and the wise; purity, straightness, continence and non-injury.
- Austerity of speech (17.15) — speech that causes no distress, that is truthful, pleasant and beneficial; and the regular study of scripture. The Sanskrit is precise: anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha — words that do not agitate, and are true, and are pleasant, and are beneficial. All four conditions at once.
- Austerity of the mind (17.16) — serenity, gentleness, silence, self-control and purity of nature.
📌 The difficulty of the speech verse
Requiring speech to be simultaneously non-agitating, true, pleasant and beneficial rules out a great deal. It excludes the comfortable lie (not true), the cruel truth (agitating), and idle pleasantness (not beneficial). The commentators note that it is the hardest of the three austerities precisely because it must satisfy all four conditions together.
🕉️ Om Tat Sat (17.23–17.28)
The chapter closes with the threefold designation of Brahman — Om Tat Sat — said to have been established of old, along with the brahmanas, the Vedas and the sacrifices (17.23).
- Om — uttered at the beginning of acts of sacrifice, charity and austerity by the knowers of Brahman (17.24).
- Tat — "that"; acts of sacrifice, austerity and charity are performed without aiming at the fruit by those seeking liberation (17.25).
- Sat — used in the sense of reality and of goodness; and applied to praiseworthy action (17.26). Steadfastness in sacrifice, austerity and charity is also called sat, as is action for their sake (17.27).
And the chapter's final verse, 17.28, is unusually severe: whatever is offered, given or performed, and whatever austerity is practised, without faith is called asat — unreal. It is of no account here or hereafter.
⭐ Key Verses
Verses are given in Devanagari, in transliteration, and in plain English. Chapter-and-verse numbering follows the standard vulgate used in most printed editions.
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 ||
The faith of each is according to their essential nature, Bharata. A person is made of their faith — whatever their faith is, that they are.
Yo yach-chhraddhah sa eva sah — one of the most consequential lines in the Gita.
अनुद्वेगकरं वाक्यं सत्यं प्रियहितं च यत् ।
स्वाध्यायाभ्यसनं चैव वाङ्मयं तप उच्यते ॥
anudvega-karaṁ vākyaṁ satyaṁ priya-hitaṁ cha yat |
svādhyāyābhyasanaṁ chaiva vāṅ-mayaṁ tapa uchyate ||
Speech that causes no agitation, that is truthful, pleasant and beneficial — and the regular study of scripture — is called the austerity of speech.
All four conditions must hold at once. This rules out the comfortable lie, the cruel truth, and idle pleasantness alike.
दातव्यमिति यद्दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणे ।
देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ॥
dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ dīyate'nupakāriṇe |
deśhe kāle cha pātre cha tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛitam ||
Charity given as a duty, at the right place and time, to a worthy person from whom no return is expected — that charity is held to be sattvic.
Note that the sattvic and rajasic gift may be the identical object. The difference is entirely in the motive.
अश्रद्धया हुतं दत्तं तपस्तप्तं कृतं च यत् ।
असदित्युच्यते पार्थ न च तत्प्रेत्य नो इह ॥
aśhraddhayā hutaṁ dattaṁ tapas taptaṁ kṛitaṁ cha yat |
asad ity uchyate pārtha na cha tat pretya no iha ||
Whatever is offered, given or performed, and whatever austerity is practised, without faith is called asat — unreal. It is of no account, Partha, here or hereafter.
The chapter's severe closing verse, and the counterpart to 17.3: if a person is made of their faith, an act without faith is made of nothing.
💡 What the Chapter Teaches
- “A person is made of their faith.” 17.3 — not what they believe propositionally, but what they actually trust and are oriented by.
- Everything comes in three grades. Worship, food, sacrifice, austerity and charity are each analysed by guna.
- The distinction is usually motive, not act. In most rows, the sattvic and rajasic version may be the identical action performed for a different reason.
- The austerity of speech is the hardest. Non-agitating, true, pleasant and beneficial — all four at once.
- Faith is the necessary condition. 17.28 declares that anything done without it is asat — of no account here or hereafter.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What does 'a person is made of their faith' mean in Gita 17.3?
That the faith of each is according to their essential nature, and that a person is made of their faith — whatever their faith is, that they are (yo yach-chhraddhah sa eva sah). It is a claim about orientation rather than propositional belief, and Krishna uses it to establish that everyone has faith of some kind before classifying its varieties.
What is sattvic food according to the Bhagavad Gita?
Verse 17.8: foods which increase life, purity, strength, health, happiness and cheerfulness — savoury, smooth, firm and agreeable. Rajasic: bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, dry, burning — causing pain and disease. Tamasic: stale, tasteless, putrid, left over, unclean. This is one of the few rows concerning the act rather than the motive.
What are the three kinds of austerity in Chapter 17?
By domain: body — worship of the gods, the twice-born, teachers and the wise, with purity, straightness, continence and non-injury. Speech — words that cause no agitation, are truthful, pleasant and beneficial, with regular scriptural study. Mind — serenity, gentleness, silence, self-control and purity of nature.
Why is the austerity of speech considered the hardest?
Because 17.15 requires speech to be simultaneously non-agitating, truthful, pleasant and beneficial — all four at once. That rules out the comfortable lie (not true), the cruel truth (agitating), and idle pleasantness (not beneficial). Commentators note it is the hardest of the three precisely because the conditions must hold together.
What does Om Tat Sat mean?
The threefold designation of Brahman, said at 17.23 to have been established of old with the brahmanas, the Vedas and the sacrifices. Om — uttered at the start of sacrifice, charity and austerity. Tat (“that”) — acts performed without aiming at the fruit. Sat — used for reality and goodness, and applied to praiseworthy action and steadfastness.
What does the Gita say about acts done without faith?
Verse 17.28: whatever is offered, given or performed, and whatever austerity practised, without faith is called asat — unreal — and is of no account here or hereafter. It is the counterpart of 17.3: if a person is made of their faith, an act without faith is made of nothing.
🙏 Conclusion
Chapter 17 is the Gita's most practical piece of classification, and its most quietly demanding. The tables look like rules about food and ritual, and read carefully they turn out to be almost entirely about motive: the sattvic and rajasic versions of a gift may be the same object handed to the same person, differing only in what the giver wanted. The austerity of speech is the passage most worth carrying — words must be non-agitating, true, pleasant and beneficial, all four together, which rules out most of what is normally said. And the chapter's last verse completes its first: if a person is made of their faith, then an act performed without faith is made of nothing.
📖 Continue the Gita Series
📚 More from the Gita Series
Chapter 16: Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga
The Divine and the Demonic - 24 verses. The chapter before this one.
Chapter 18: Moksha Sanyasa Yoga
Liberation Through Renunciation - 78 verses. The chapter that follows.
The Most-Quoted Gita Verses
Twenty-five verses from across the eighteen chapters, with text and translation.