Bhagavatgita adetailed study chapter17 Three kinds of faith

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23.om thath sath ithi nirdheSah

brahmaNaH thriviDhassmrthaH

 

braahmaNaasthena vedhaaScha yajnaaScha vihithaaH

puraa

 

Brahman

is denoted by the threefold expression, Om Thath Sath. The brahmanas, Vedas and

the yajnas were created in the past by Him.

 

The expression `om thath sath' is a purifier

in any act enjoined by the Vedas, to ward off the effects of any error in the

chanting or the procedure etc. The three words mean the three aspects of

Brahman. Om denotes the supremacy or the parathva. Thath refers to Brahman as the goal to be reached and sath is the

Brahman manifest as the universe.

 

24. thasmaath om ithi udhaahrthya

yajnadhaanthapaHkriyaaH

 

Pravarthanthe viDhanokthaaH sathatham

Brahmavaadhinaam

 

Hence

all sacrifices, gifts and austerities

enjoined by the Vedas are always started with `Om' by those who have learnt the Vedas.

 

The

word Om when uttered directs the

mind to the Supreme Being and the acts done starting with Om become charged with

divine power.

 

25.thadhithyanabhisanDhaaya phalam

yajnathapaH kriyaaH

 

dhaanakriyaaScha viviDhaaH kriyanthe moksha

kaankshibhiH

Those

who aspire for moksha and perform yajnas and austerities and gifts without

expecting result utter the word `thath'

before they perform these acts.

 

Since

the word thath refers to Brahman,

the goal to be reached, that is moksha,

the acts done without expectation of result and with the purpose of attaining moksha

are begun with thath.

 

 

26. sadhbhaave saaDhubhaave cha

sadhithiethath prayujyathe

 

praSasthe karmaNi thaThaa sacChabdhaH paarTha yujyathe

 

The

word `sath' is used in then sense of

existence and goodness and also Arjuna, the word `sath' is used in auspicious actions.

 

As

the word sath denotes the

manifestation of Brahman as the universe, all auspicious acts done for the

welfare of the world are begun with sath.

 

27.yajne thapasi dhaane cha sThithiH

sadhithi cha uchyathe

 

Karma chaiva thadharTheeyam sadhithyeva abhiDheeyathe

 

Steadfastness

in sacrifices, austerity and gifts is also known as sath and hence in actions in respect to these, are named as `sath'.

This

means that all activities sanctioned by the Vedas, are saathvik when done with the

utterance of Om Thath Sath because

the mind then becomes pure and free of selfish desires and whatever done in that attitude becomes

karmayoga.

 

28. aSradDhayaa hutham dhattham

thapasthaptham krtham

cha yath

 

asadhithuchyathe paarTha nacha tath prethya no iha

 

Whatever

sacrifice gift or austerity done without faith is asath, Arjuna and that is

fruitful neither here nor in the other world.

 

 

In

keeping with the theme of the chapter SradDhaathraya

vibhaaga, the classification of three types of SradDhaa, Krishna

concludes by saying that any sacrifice, gifts and austerities performed without

faith are futile neither bringing result in this world or the next.

 

End of 17th chapter, The

three kinds of faith.