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Ch 17 · Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 17, Verse 1: Krishna to Arjuna — Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 17.1Chapter 17 · Śraddhātraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh
ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः ।
तेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वमाहो रजस् तमः ॥
ye← yad(218 verses)nominative masculine plural nounwhich, who (relative pronoun) śāstra← śāstra(7 verses)compound (compound member)scripture, treatise, authoritative teaching-vidhim← vidhi(5 verses)accusative masculine singular nounrule, injunction, prescribed procedure utsṛjya← utsṛj(2 verses)convto cast off, release (ud- + √sṛj)attested in commentariesadvaitaपरित्यज्य यजन्ते देवादीन् पूजयन्ति श्रद्धया अन्विताः श्रद्धया आस्तिक्यबुद्ध्या अन्विताः संयुक्ताः सन्तः -- श्रुतिलक्षणंviśiṣṭādvaitaश्रद्धयान्विता ये यजन्ते तेषां निष्ठा का किं सत्वम् आहो स्वित् रजः अथ तमःनिष्ठा स्थितिः, स्थीयते अस्मिन् इति स्थितिः, स yajante← √yaj(13 verses)present indicative 3rd person plural verbto sacrifice, worship (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaदेवादीन् पूजयन्ति श्रद्धया अन्विताः श्रद्धया आस्तिक्यबुद्ध्या अन्विताः संयुक्ताः सन्तः -- श्रुतिलक्षणं स्मृतिलक्षणं वाviśiṣṭādvaitaतेषां निष्ठा का किं सत्वम् आहो स्वित् रजः अथ तमःनिष्ठा स्थितिः, स्थीयते अस्मिन् इति स्थितिः, सत्त्वादिःbhaktiइत्यनेन शास्त्रार्थं बुध्वा तमुल्लङ्घ्य वर्तमानाश्च गृह्यन्ते, तेषां श्रद्धया यजनानुपपत्तेःadvaita-bhaktiदेवपूजादिकं कुर्वन्ति śraddhayā← śraddhā(13 verses)instrumental feminine singular nounfaith, trust, convictionattested in commentariesadvaitaअन्विताः श्रद्धया आस्तिक्यबुद्ध्या अन्विताः संयुक्ताः सन्तः -- श्रुतिलक्षणं स्मृतिलक्षणं वा कञ्चित् शास्त्रविधिम् अपश्यbhaktiवर्तमानानां किमधिकारोऽस्ति नास्ति वेति बुभुत्सया अर्जुन उवाच -- य इतिnvitāḥ
teṣāṃ← tad(305 verses)genitive masculine plural nounthat (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun niṣṭhā← niṣṭhā(4 verses)nominative feminine singular nounfixed devotion, steadfastness, abiding-in (ni- + √sthā)attested in commentariesadvaitaतु का कृष्ण सत्त्वम् आहो रजः तमः, किं सत्त्वं निष्ठा अवस्थानम्, आहोस्वित् रजः, अथवा तमः इतिviśiṣṭādvaitaका किं सत्वम् आहो स्वित् रजः अथ तमःनिष्ठा स्थितिः, स्थीयते अस्मिन् इति स्थितिः, सत्त्वादिःdvaitaपृच्छ्येत तदा ते तामसा इत्येवोत्तरमुच्येत तदीयतामसत्त्वस्याविकल्पितत्वादिति भावःśuddhādvaitaका हे कर्षक किं सत्त्वमाहो रजस्तम इति तेषां सत्त्वविषयिणी सा रजस्तमोविषयिणी वा निष्ठा इति प्रश्नतात्पर्यम्।bhaktiका स्थितिः क आश्रयः तामेव विशेषेण पृच्छति किं सत्त्वं, आहो किं वा रजः, अथवा तम इतिadvaita-bhaktiका कीदृशी तेषां शास्त्रविध्यनपेक्षा श्रद्धापूर्विका च tu← tu(67 verses)but, on the other hand (particle) kā← ka(42 verses)nominative feminine singular nounwho? what? (interrogative) kṛṣṇa← kṛṣṇa(14 verses)vocative masculine singular nounKṛṣṇa; black, darkattested in commentariesadvaitaसत्त्वम् आहो रजः तमः, किं सत्त्वं निष्ठा अवस्थानम्, आहोस्वित् रजः, अथवा तमः इतिadvaita-bhaktiभक्ताघकर्षण, किं सात्त्विकी तथा सति सात्त्विकत्वात्ते देवाः sattvam← sattva(20 verses)nominative neuter singular nounpurity, lightness (the first guṇa); being, essenceattested in commentariesadvaitaआहो रजः तमः, किं सत्त्वं निष्ठा अवस्थानम्, आहोस्वित् रजः, अथवा तमः इति āho← āhoor, indeed (interrogative particle) raja← rajas(13 verses)nominative neuter singular nounpassion, activity (the second guṇa); dusts tamaḥ← tamas(16 verses)nominative neuter singular noundarkness, inertia (the third guṇa); ignorance
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Arjuna asks: those who set aside scriptural rules yet worship with genuine faith, Krishna, where do they stand — in sattva, rajas, or tamas?

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    Arjuna asks: those who abandon the injunction of scripture (shastra-vidhi) yet worship with shraddha (faith, specifically astikya-buddhi — the conviction that the fruits of Vedic action are real) — what is their condition (nishtha), O Krishna? Is it sattva, rajas, or tamas? Shankara narrows the question: he excludes those who know scripture and deliberately transgress it, since genuine shraddha cannot coexist with knowing refusal. The question targets only those who never encountered the injunction at all and follow elder-custom (vriddha-vyavahara) alone. The question is thus: into which guna does faith-driven worship without scriptural grounding fall?

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Arjuna asks about the nishtha — understood as the guna-anchored mode of standing (sthiti, that in which one stands) — of those who worship with shraddha but without shastra-vidhi. Ramanuja hears the underlying anxiety: can such worship yield fruit? His response is that un-shastriya shraddha is itself threefold by guna, and therefore the worship arising from it is likewise triple. The chapter will proceed to show that shastriya worship, differentiated by guna, is the only path that opens toward bhakti-yoga and ultimately Bhagavan's kainkarya (service-union). Extra-shastriya worship is structurally incomplete — not damnation, but misdirection.

  • Madhvadvaita

    Madhva opens with a salutation to the one who is full of all qualities (sarva-guna-purna), orienting the entire verse toward the eternal, qualitatively complete Hari. He then states flatly: those who worship without shastra have indeed abandoned the Vedic injunction — 'the twice-born must master the entire Veda with its secret portions' (Manu 2.165). The Madhucchandasa shruti is cited: those who do not recite the Veda are of diminished intelligence. If they were truly sattvic they would not be shastra-transgressing in the first place, since dharma cannot contradict Veda. The chapter's threefold division of guna is thus the chapter's explanation of the degrees of departure from Hari's order.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Vallabha connects this verse directly to the close of chapter 16: one who acts from kama-kara (self-willed desire) abandoning shastra-vidhi attains neither siddhi nor sukha nor the highest state. Arjuna now asks about those who act not from kama-kara but from shraddha, though still without shastra. The word 'karshaka' (used in addressing Krishna as 'O Ploughman,' O Karshin) signals that Krishna as the cultivator of the devotee's heart is being invoked. The question is: is their nishtha sattvic or tamasic? Vallabha's framing is gentle — shraddha is already Krsna's grace beginning to work in the devotee, and the chapter will show that even informal shraddha-driven worship can be purified toward Krishna through prasada.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Shridhara opens with a summary verse: in chapter 17, shraddha is the chief qualification, the primary sattvic form. Arjuna's question follows directly from 16.23, which denied siddhi to those acting from kama-kara. Here Arjuna asks about a third category — not deliberate transgressors, not shastra-followers, but those who out of laziness or difficulty simply never engaged shastra and now worship from custom-transmitted faith (achara-parampara-vasena). Their situation is ambiguous: their shraddha inclines toward sattva, but their shastra-neglect from laziness inclines toward rajas-tamas. The triple guna-analysis of shraddha in the chapter resolves this triple doubt.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Madhusudana identifies a third category beyond the devas (shastra-compliant with shraddha) and asuras (kama-kara without shraddha) established in chapter 16. This third type neglects shastra-vidhi out of laziness but retains shraddha through elder-custom: they share the asura characteristic of shastra-neglect and the deva characteristic of faith-driven action. Arjuna cannot assign them to either established camp and so asks. The word 'aho' (ahosit) signals a genuine disjunction: sattva-camp or rajas-tamas-camp? The chapter will show they distribute across all three gunas depending on the object and mode of their shraddha-worship, not collapsing into either pure deva or pure asura.

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