Both chapters XVI & XVII are intertwined in the knowledge given to Arjuna and imparted to us. In Chapter XVII Arjuna asks for clarification and wants to know about those who do not know or follow the prescribed scriptures from spiritual texts, but worship the Lord with faith in their hearts. In response, Sri Krishna speaks to the power of faith – shraddha – and how it pertains to the Gunas – sattva, rajas or tamas. As he states in the following sloka:
XVII.3 Faith is in accordance With the truth (nature) of each, Arjuna. Man is made of faith. Whatever faith he has, thus he is.
“As we think in our heart, so we are.”
We then understand our own motivations and tendencies and see where they are leading us. Are our own tendencies leading us to experience a life of peace and equanimity or leave us feeling exhausted, unhappy, confused and depressed. Sri Krishna describes how the gunas influence our earthly life and which thoughts and actions emanate from sattva, rajas and tamas. He tells Arjuna how developing sattvic gunas and overcoming tamasic and rajasic gunas can help him stay on the spiritual path. Shraddha is essential but what are the motivations for this faith? Sattvic faith is where an individual develops spiritual strength by following ethical, moral values, compassion, wisdom, inner balance and refrains from injuring another in thought, word or deed. This sort of faith (shraddha) purifies the heart. Rajasic faith is dynamic and evolving but the will power needed to progress may get subverted by selfish motives for fame, power or fortune. Tamasic faith is that which ties a person to tormenting his body or mind in a mistaken attempt to acquire certain powers or controls that cause pain and harm to others and to themselves.
Before Sri Krishna closes his teaching in this chapter, he again turns to tapas or sadhana – the self-discipline to be followed diligently for the sake of spiritual progress. In the beautiful words of Rev. Stephanie Rut:
“Faith (shraddha) knows the sun is still shining on a cloudy day when it can’t be seen or felt. It is the only thing that makes perfect sense to me because it doesn’t require the world to be a certain way-it requires (me) to be a certain way. It is what I know, (and) it leads me to safety when the rudder is broken and night is falling fast.”
The concluding sections of this chapter extols the mantra Om Tat Sat. You are that Om, that pure imperishable Absolute (Brahman), the cosmic sound heard in the depths of meditation. This is absolute divine consciousness, peace, existence and happiness. It is the syllable of total affirmation. By and through Om we may ascend and reach the soundless, silent Brahman which is the crowning apex of yoga.
Tat is “That” – the supreme reality. Sat means “That which is permanent and changeless,”
The mantra Om Tat Sat affirms the permanence of this principle of the Absolute – Brahman.
This is the nirvana of Brahman experience which we read about in Chapter II, Section 71 of the Bhagavad-Gita.
excerpts from translations by Eknath Easwaran and Stephanie Rutt
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