Bhagavad Gita 17.2 Meaning: Trividha bhavati shraddha

Bhagavad Gita 17.2

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।

त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनां सा स्वभावजा ।सात्त्विकी राजसी चैव तामसी चेति तां शृणु ॥

Trividha bhavati shraddha dehinam sa svabhavajaSattviki rajasi chaiva tamasi cheti tam shrinu

trividhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṃ sā svabhāvajā |sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ceti tāṃ śṛṇu ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna answers. The faith of embodied beings is of three kinds, he says, and it is born of each one's own nature (svabhāva): sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa. He asks Arjuna to hear about it. Telang's note explains this nature as the result of actions in a former birth.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण उत्तर देते हैं। वे कहते हैं कि देहधारियों की श्रद्धा तीन प्रकार की होती है, और वह हर एक के अपने स्वभाव से उत्पन्न होती है: सात्त्विकी, राजसी और तामसी। वे अर्जुन से इसे सुनने को कहते हैं। तेलंग की टिप्पणी इस स्वभाव को पिछले जन्म के कर्मों का फल बताती है।

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त्रिविधा trividhā · of three kinds (adjective (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: tri-vidha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 460, col. 2 “of 3 kinds, triple, threefold”
भवति bhavati · is (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. bhū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 760, col. 2 “to become, be”
श्रद्धा śraddhā · faith (noun (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: śraddhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1095, col. 3 “faith, trust, confidence, trustfulness, faithfulness, belief in”
देहिनाम् dehinām · of embodied beings (noun (masculine), genitive plural) Dictionary: dehin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 497, col. 1 “having a body, corporeal; m. a living creature, man”
सा sā · that, it (pronoun (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
स्वभावजा svabhāvajā · born of one's own nature (compound (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: sva-bhāva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1276, col. 1 “own condition or state of being, natural state or constitution, innate or inherent disposition, nature”; 2. ja, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 407, col. 3 “ifc. born or descended from, produced or caused by”
सात्त्विकी sāttvikī · sāttvika (of sattva) (adjective (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: sāttvika, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1200, col. 1 “relating to or endowed with the quality Sattva (i.e. 'purity' or 'goodness')”
राजसी rājasī · rājasa (of rajas) (adjective (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: rājasa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 875, col. 2 “belonging or relating to the quality rajas”
च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
एव eva · also (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
तामसी tāmasī · tāmasa (of tamas) (adjective (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: tāmasa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 442, col. 3 “appertaining to or affected by the quality tamas”
च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
इति iti · thus (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. iti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 1 “in this manner, thus”
ताम् tām · of it (pronoun (feminine), accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
शृणु śṛṇu · hear (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 1. śru, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1100, col. 3 “to hear, listen or attend to anything”

I. e. the result of the actions in a former birth, cf. p. 56 supra. ↩

Bhagavad Gita 17.2: meaning and translation

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