अथ सप्तदशोऽध्यायः🔗

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?

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.

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

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.

17.5,6 Ignorant persons of demonic nature are those who practice severe austerities without following the prescription of the scriptures, who are full of hypocrisy and egotism, who are impelled by the force of desire and attachment and who senselessly torture the elements in their body and also Me who dwells within the body.

17.7 Food that we consume is of three kinds, according to the three types of material nature. So are the sacrifice, austerity and charity. Hear the difference between these three.

17.8 The foods that promote longevity, virtue, strength, health, happiness, and joy are juicy, smooth, substantial, and nutritious. Such foods are liked by persons in the mode of goodness.

17.9 People in the mode of aggression like foods that are very bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry, and burning, and cause pain, grief, and disease.

17.10 People in the mode of ignorance like foods that are stale, tasteless, putrid, rotten, refuse, and of impure energy.

17.11 Sacrifice without expectation of results, as stipulated in the scriptures, with a firm belief and conviction that it is a duty, is in the mode of goodness.

17.12 O Arjuna, that sacrifice that is performed with expec-tation of result or for show out of pride, is of the nature of aggression.

17.13 Sacrifice that is performed without following the scripture, in which no food is distributed, which is devoid of mantra, authenticity, and gift, is said to be in the mode of ignorance.

17.14 The worship of deities, the priest, the guru, and the wise; purity, honesty, living in reality, and nonviolence are said to be austerity of deed.

17.15 Speech that is non-offensive, truthful, pleasant, benefi-cial, and is used for the regular study of scriptures is called austerity of word.

17.16 Serenity of mind, gentleness, equanimity, self-control, and purity of thought are called austerity of thought.

17.17 The above mentioned threefold austerity (of thought, word, and deed), practiced by yogis with supreme authenticity, without a desire for the fruit, is said to be in the mode of goodness.

17.18 Austerity that is performed for gaining respect, honor, reverence, and for the sake of show, yielding an uncertain and temporary result, is said to be in the mode of aggression.

17.19 Austerity performed with foolish stubbornness or with self-torture or for harming others, is said to be in the mode of ignorance.

17.20 Charity that is given at the right place and time as a matter of duty to a deserving candidate who does nothing in return, is considered to be in the mode of goodness.

17.21 Charity that is given unwillingly or to get something in return or to gain some result is in the mode of aggression.

17.22 Charity that is given at a wrong place and time to un-worthy persons or without paying respect to the receiver or with ridicule is in the mode of ignorance.

17.23 'OṀ Tat Sat' is said to be the threefold name of the eternal Being (Brahma). Persons with good (brahminic) qualities, the Vedas, and the selfless service (seva, yajña) were created by and from Brahma in the ancient time.

tasmād oṁ ity udāhṛtya yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyāḥ | pravartante vidhānoktāḥ satataṁ brahmavādinām // 17.24

17.24 Therefore, acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity prescribed in the scriptures are always commenced by uttering 'Om' by the knowers of the Supreme Being.

tad ity anabhisandhāya phalaṁ yajñatapaḥkriyāḥ | dāna-kriyāś ca vividhāḥ kriyante mokṣak-āṅkṣibhiḥ // 17.25

17.25 Various types of sacrifice, charity, and austerity are performed by the seekers of liberation by uttering 'Tat' (or He is all) without seeking a reward.

sadbhāve sādhubhāve ca sad ity etat prayujyate | praśaste karmaṇi tathā sac-chabdaḥ pārtha yujyate // 17.26

yajñe tapasi dāne ca sthitiḥ sad iti cocyate | karma caiva tad arthīyaṁ sadityevābhidhīyate // 17.27

17.26,27 The word 'Sat' is used in the sense of Reality and goodness. The word 'Sat' is also used for an auspicious act, O Pārtha (Arjuna). Authenticity in sacrifice, charity, and austerity is also called ‘Sat’. Selfless service for the sake of the Supreme is, in truth, termed as ‘Sat’.

aśraddhayā hutaṁ dattaṁ tapastaptaṁ kṛtaṁ ca yat | asadityucyate pārtha na ca tatpretya no iha // 17.28

17.28 Whatever is done without authenticity. whether it is sacrifice, charity, austerity, or any other act is called ‘asat.’ It has no value here or hereafter, O Pārtha (Arjuna).

In the Upaniṣad of Śrimad Bhagavad Gītā, the scripture of yoga dealing with Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the science of Brahman, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṁvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Arjuna, this is seventeenth chapter named, Śraddhātraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ, ‘The Yoga of Discerning the Three-Fold Faith.’

Kṛṣṇa now gives the methodology to internalize and live the truths in Śraddhatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ. Here, Kṛṣṇa speaks about the three-fold authenticity, Śraddha.

Listen, human beings do not suffer because they don't get to listen to the truths. They suffer because they don't live the truth. Śraddha means faith plus the courage of authenticity to live the truth, to live your peak possibility.

Whatever can be said has been said. Now all we need is śrad- dha. Throughout the chapters Lord Kṛṣṇa has given Arjuna a beautiful spiritual feast. All Arjuna needs is 'Digene' to digest the whole thing and enjoy. This chapter is 'Digene'. The whole emphasis is on Śraddha: authenticity, integrity, truthfulness.

Listen. Not having a gap between your spiritual understandings and your day-to-day life is what I call Living. Here, Kṛṣṇa emphasizes how only śraddha can transform your whole life. Understand, whatever you believe, if you have śraddha, authenticity in aligning that belief in all your identities—inner image (mamakāra), outer image (ahaṁkāra), others' image (anyakāra) and life's image (svanyakāra), you will achieve the Ultimate. Authenticity is nothing but being sincere to these four aspects of you. Just create the best image that you wanted to feel, think and project about you.

Kṛṣṇa declares earlier, 'śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ (4.39), one established in authenticity, experiences true wisdom, Enlighten-ment.' Śraddha will become reality in you, only when you live it. Live authenticity! Many have achieved God and attained the Truth through the path of living authenticity.

Listen. Everything that we listened in the Gītā, all that we cognized, should be responded with the idea 'Possible!' This should be the mantra ringing in our heart. Kṛṣṇa's words are possible!

Bring yourself to the peak possibility. Don’t bother if the truth you believe is the ultimate Truth. You will never know it, unless you have the authenticity to live it. Without living it, you cannot conclude. Understand, the ultimate step or the straight way to Enlightenment is—Authenticity to live the truth.

Arjuna asks a beautiful question, ‘Kṛṣṇa, those who discard the scriptures, śāstras and perform sacrifices, what is their position? Is it sātvic, rājasic or tāmasic? What is the state of people who don’t follow these instructions, and instead worship with śraddha, authenticity as per their own beliefs?’

Please listen. Worship or sacrifice can occur at many levels. Arjuna’s question is based on the three attributes or guṇas and our energy levels. Each of these is guided by scriptural instructions on how to perform the worship, when and where, etc.

Kṛṣṇa explains that the way we worship depends on our natural disposition, the guṇa, attributes that we are born with–satva, goodness, rajas, aggression, or tamas, ignorance.

Śraddha here refers to the faith that comes out of authenticity in action or good work. Yet pure goodness goes beyond all material acts. Only a person whose nature is pure goodness can connect with the Divine, with Existence—yajante sāttvikā devān (17.4). An Enlightened Master goes beyond the three guṇas of satva, rajas and tamas because he burns out all his saṁskāras, karmas, of which these triguṇas are a product.

Kṛṣṇa says that our style of worship depends on our nature, sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata (17.3). A person established in satva worships devatas (deities, gods) who are peaceful, yajante sāttvikā devān. A person established in rajas worships yakṣas (supernatural beings) and rākṣasas (demons), yakṣa-rakṣāṁsi rājasāḥ. A person established in tamas (ignorance) worships pretas (spirits) and bhūtas (ghosts), pretān bhūta-gaṇāṁś cānye yajante tāmasā janāḥ (17.4). Based upon our ideal, our guṇas (attributes) can be described.

Beautifully Bhagavān says, ‘Do not punish your body. Do not torture your soul. You also punish Me because I reside in you, māṃ caiva antaḥ śarīra-sthaṃ’ (17.6). The body is the temple of God. By torturing the temple of God, you torture the Supreme Consciousness residing inside. Those who torture the Supreme Consciousness inside the body are certainly demons—tān viddhy āsura niścayān (17.6).

Rāvaṇa did penance. He cut off his heads and put them into fire. This is āsuri or demon’s penance to boost ego and seek power, torturing the body and torturing the Supreme Consciousness residing within the body. There is no need to do self-torture. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Don’t torture yourself.’ God never asked you to torture yourself.

All you need to do is jump into authenticity, the space of possibility. The moment we jump into Śraddha, we experience the truth. We become Kṛṣṇa. We experience Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now, we will enter into the technology of experiencing authenticity, the technology of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

You see, either you should be completely sincere and trust what I say as the Truth, or be very clear that whatever I am saying is just lies. You don’t need to do it completely. Having the courage of authenticity to experiment living the Truth is enough. After my talking all these days, if you consciously say, ‘Why not test for two or three days?’, if you have that much courage, that is enough.

The gap between your desire and your responsibility is your inauthenticity. Bring more and more authenticity. Take more and more responsibility. May you consciously decide to experiment with the truths of Bhagavad Gītā.

Have the courage of authenticity and experiment with the space of possibility. Life starts with the space of possibility! You don’t need to experiment with the whole Gītā. Take one single principle and intranalyze that to the core. Let your whole being vibrate with that single thought.

The basic truth Kṛṣṇa is telling you is integrity and authenticity.

Never do anything without being complete about the Truth, and never stop doing anything if you know it is the Truth. Stand up with the courage of authenticity as your bone marrow. Nothing will be lost. If something can be lost by practicing the Truth, may it be lost as early as possible.

Kṛṣṇa talks about how to give, how to sacrifice and how to enrich others. In the Vedic tradition, enriching sacrifices such as fire rituals (yajña) were not mere rituals to worship celestial beings. They had a far deeper meaning of enriching.

When the great Ṛṣis performed yajña, they expected nothing. These rituals were done to please the celestial beings and nature for the enriching welfare of humanity. These were selfless offerings of satva guṇa, goodness.

Kings also performed fire rituals to display their power, ego. Kings such as Yudhiṣṭra performed sacrifices like Rājasūya Yāga to announce their supremacy over other kings, which were done in rajas, agression.

Understand, an enriching sacrifice is not measured by how much we give. It is measured by how much we give that we cannot afford to give, without any expectation in return. Such an enriching sacrifice straight-away leads to liberation. When people move from rajas state of giving to the satva state of giving, wealth seeks them. Lakṣmī, the goddess of wealth comes to them without being asked! She knows these people will be the route for enriching mankind. May your desire to enrich others and give away be limitless. You will be amazed at how wealth seeks you.

Kṛṣṇa defines austerity of deeds, words and thoughts. Tapas or penance is the austere, simple way of living, the mode of aparigraha (simplicity). It is based upon what one needs and not what one craves for. One who successfully practices this is a tapasvi.

Tapasya, austerity or penance, doesn’t mean inflicting pain or torturing oneself and others, not just physically, but through words and thoughts also. Penance undertaken in this manner is abusing oneself and the God who resides within. Such acts are done out of ignorance, tamas.

Penance performed for obtaining any result, even a noble ideal like Enlightenment is a result...is in the mode of rajas, aggression or passion. Only when it is in the nature of total surrender, with no expectation of any results, it is in satva and of spiritual value.

The penance that is to be done by words, is speaking the truth and speaking pleasing words, satyaṁ priyahitaṁ ca yat (17.15). Creating a healing effect through our words is the basic practice for one who is established in integrity. We should not utter words that hurt others, anuvega karaṁ vākyaṁ. Our presence should be healing and enriching others. Kṛṣṇa calls this tapaḥ, austerity of words, vān-mayaṁ tapa ucyate (17.15).

I am defining Integrity. Aligning yourself more and more, deeper and deeper into your completion, aligning your words, internal and external, towards the space of completion, is Integrity.

Kṛṣṇa instructs to study spiritual literature regularly so that these higher ideas go again and again into our brain. Consequently, we acquire the courage to live the truth.

Next, Kṛṣṇa talks about austerity in action, śarīraṁ tapa. These mean truth in thoughts, words and deeds embodying nonviolence, non-covetousness, simplicity and living in reality, focusing on Supreme as the ultimate in any penance.

Kṛṣṇa speaks on the concept of dāna, enriching charity. Dāna, charity is sharing out of the space of enriching, not expecting good results or easy route into heaven. Charity is done out of love and gratitude, out of the responsibility to enrich the Whole. Only then it becomes real dāna. Sharing at the proper time and place and with a worthy person is charity in the mode of goodness, satva.

There are three kinds of dāna. Understand, annadāna means sharing to enrich with food, clothes and is related to someone's physical needs. Next is vidyādāna. This means sharing to enrich with education for mental growth. And the third kind is jñānadāna, sharing to enrich with spiritual knowledge. Annadāna satisfies for three hours. Vidyādāna satisfies the receiver for one life. If we give jñānadāna, it fulfills that person for life after life. He will never fall into depression or the ocean of material world, birth after birth.

Jñānadāna is the ultimate sharing of enriching with knowledge. Kṛṣṇa says that when charity is done purely out of a feeling of sharing to enrich others, it is sātvika, the ultimate good, purity—tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛtam (17.20).

The person who gives loses nothing with jñānadāna. With all other dāna, the person who gives has a little less. In jñānadāna, I tell you a secret, the more you share, the more it grows in you! The more you enrich others with the science of completion, the more you grow in completion. Here, you receive automatically.

The straightforward, integrated and authentic approach to the truth is what Kṛṣṇa calls sātvika dāna. Here, in whatever way I experience the Truth, I simply express and share it, authentically, without reservation. That is sātvika dāna according to Kṛṣṇa.

Understand, all kinds of food, penance, sacrifice or charity fall into the basic three categories explained by Kṛṣṇa—sātvic, rājasic and tāmasic. When they are done from the space of completion with the attitude of gratitude to the Divine, only then you have spiritual elevation. Only the act done from the space of satva or goodness gives the final result.

Śraddha is also the understanding that the enriching act of sacrifice, austerity or charity, yajña, tapas or dāna is not directed towards oneself or a material goal. They are directed towards the enrichment of Supreme Consciousness.

In conclusion, Kṛṣṇa moves on to a different plane altogether. He provides the technique to achieve this space of completion that expresses as the space of enriching. The method by which anyone can surrender the fruits of his action called karma phala to the Divine. He provides the tool in the form of the invocation, Oṁ Tat Sat.

Oṁ Tat Sat. Any person enriching or working with the space of addressing Oṁ Tat Sat will be with Existence, the Divine Consciousness.

These three words simply imply: ‘I offer all to that Truth. I surrender everything to that Divine. Let that be the Truth.’ This is the Mahā-vākya, the great Truth, handed down by the Master to Arjuna as the technique to ensure śraddha, authenticity in all activities of sacrifice, austerity and charity.

Any action, whether penance (tapas), charity (dāna) or sacrifice (yajña), has no meaning when the purpose is not to achieve the Ultimate, the Divine. The final aim in all the Vedas is to gain the experience of Kṛṣṇa or the Supreme Consciousness. The Guru is the only being who can enrich you with the space of completion, to make your life successful and fulfilled.

Let us all pray to Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa to give us the experience that leads to the Ultimate Consciousness, Nityānanda.

Let us pray to Him to give us all Śraddha, authenticity and experience of the Truth that He is teaching through the Gītā, to all of us, and let Him make us establish ourselves in Eternal Bliss, Nityānanda.

CHAPTER 18

Mokṣa Sannyāsa Yogaḥ

DROP EVERYTHING AND SURRENDER