64. Authenticity: Straight Way To Liberation

Living is about having Sraddha, courage of authenticity to live the Truth. Just reading or listening and thinking one has understood It, is meaningless. Not having a gap between your convictions and your day-to-day life is what I call Living!

arjuna uvāca

ye śāstravidhim utsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ I teṣāṁ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvamāho rajastamaḥ II 17.1

17.1 Arjuna says: What is the mode of devotion of those who perform spiritual practices with authenticity, but without following the scriptural injunctions, O Kṛṣṇa? Is it in the mode of goodness, aggression or ignorance?

śrībhagavānuvāca trividhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṁ sā svabhāvajā I sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ceti tāṁ śṛṇu II 17.2

17.2 The Supreme Lord says: The natural authenticity (faith) of embodied beings is of three kinds: goodness, aggression, and ignorance. Now hear about these from Me.

sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata I

śraddhāmayo'yam puruṣo yo yacchraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ II 17.3

17.3 O Arjuna, the authenticity of each is in accordance with one's own natural disposition. One is known by one's authenticity. One can become whatever one wants to be.

yajante sāttvikā devān yakṣarakṣāṁsi rājasāḥ I pretān-bhūta-gaṇāṁś cānye yajante tāmasā janāḥ II 17.4

17.4 Men in the nature of goodness worship the deities; those in the nature of aggression worship the demons and those in the nature of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.

ì

aśāstravihitaṁ ghoraṁ tapyante ye tapo janāḥ I dambhāhaṅkārasamyuktāḥ kāmarāgabalānvitāḥ II 17.5