Quiz · 17.1–17.10

Nominative singular feminine. It agrees with niṣṭhā (निष्ठा), "standing." The question is what their standing is. sattvam (सत्त्वम्), rajaḥ (रजः), and tamaḥ (तमः) are the three answers he offers, with āho (आहो) holding the list open.

bhūtagaṇāṃś cānye (भूतगणांश्चान्ये). n (न्) before c (च्) becomes anusvara, and ś (श्) is heard between them. Then च + अ ca + a becomes cā (चा), because अ + अ a + a becomes ā (आ). The ś (श्) belongs to the meeting of n (न्) and c (च्).

Hear the faith of embodied beings, which is of three kinds and born of their own nature: of सत्त्व, of रजस्, and of तमस्.

Arjuna (अर्जुन) asks the standing of people who set the ordinance aside and still worship with faith: सत्त्व, or रजस्, or तमस्. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) answers that the faith of embodied beings is of three kinds, born of their own nature, and that it is shaped to the being a person is: who has which faith, he is that. The three show themselves in what they worship, gods, then yakṣa (यक्ष) and rākṣasa (राक्षस) beings, then the departed and the hosts. A fierce austerity the शास्त्र has not ordained, done with show and desire, he tells Arjuna (अर्जुन) to know as a demonic resolve, because it wears down the body and him inside it. Food, too, is of three kinds: the food that grows life and pleases the heart, the food that burns and gives pain, and the meal that is stale, leftover, or unfit for the offering. Sacrifice, austerity, and gift are named, and their distinction is still to be heard.

sāttvikī (सात्त्विकी), rājasī (राजसी), tāmasī (तामसी). The clear food is savory, firm, and pleasing to the heart. The driving food burns and gives pain, sorrow, and sickness. The dark meal is stale, leftover, and unfit for the offering. The sitting fails if tāmasapriyam (तामसप्रियम्) is the food that increases life, or if sāttvikapriyāḥ (सात्त्विकप्रियाः) is the leftover meal.