17.2
श्रीभगवानुवाच
त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनां सा स्वभावजा ।
सात्त्विकी राजसी चैव तामसी चेति तां शृणु ॥
śrībhagavān uvāca
trividhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṃ sā svabhāvajā
sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ceti tāṃ śṛṇu
śrībhagavān (श्रीभगवान्) is speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन). uvāca (उवाच) stands outside the meter.
The verse
Hear the faith of embodied beings, which is of three kinds and born of their own nature: of सत्त्व, of रजस्, and of तमस्.
नेपालीमा
देह धारण गरेकाहरूको श्रद्धा सुन, जो तीन प्रकारकी छ र उनीहरूकै स्वभावबाट जन्मेकी छ, सत्त्वकी, रजस्की र तमस्की।
Where it sits
This is the answer to kā (का) in 17.1. The standing he asked for is the faith itself. Faith comes in the three strands because it is born of the nature a person is. Food, sacrifice, austerity, and gift will be sorted by the same three.
Split: त्रि-विधा + भवति + श्रद्धा + देहिनाम् + सा + स्वभाव-जा + सात्त्विकी + राजसी + च + एव + तामसी + च + इति + ताम् + शृणु
tri-vidhā + bhavati + śraddhā + dehinām + sā + svabhāva-jā + sāttvikī + rājasī + ca + eva + tāmasī + ca + iti + tām + śṛṇu
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| त्रि-विधा | tri-vidhā | nominative singular feminine | of three kinds. tri (त्रि) "three," vidhā (विधा) "kind." |
| भवति | bhavati | present, 3rd singular | is. |
| श्रद्धा | śraddhā | nominative singular | faith. |
| देहिनाम् | dehinām | genitive plural | of embodied beings. dehin (देहिन्), one who has a body. |
| सा | sā | nominative singular feminine | that. The faith. |
| स्वभाव-जा | svabhāva-jā | nominative singular feminine | born of one's own nature. svabhāva (स्वभाव) "own being," jā (जा) "born." |
| सात्त्विकी | sāttvikī | nominative singular feminine | of the clear strand. Agrees with śraddhā (श्रद्धा). |
| राजसी | rājasī | nominative singular feminine | of the driving strand. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | indeed. |
| तामसी | tāmasī | nominative singular feminine | of the dark strand. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| इति | iti | indeclinable | thus. It closes the list of three. |
| ताम् | tām | accusative singular feminine | that. The faith, now the thing to be heard. |
| शृणु | śṛṇu | imperative, 2nd singular | hear. |
The phrases
trividhā bhavati śraddhā dehinām sā svabhāvajā (त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनाम् सा स्वभावजा) is the answer's first stroke. The faith of people who have a body is of three kinds, and that faith is born of the nature they already are. He does not start from the ordinance they left. He starts from the faith.
sāttvikī rājasī ca eva tāmasī ca iti (सात्त्विकी राजसी च एव तामसी च इति) names the three, in the gender of śraddhā (श्रद्धा). Clear, driving, dark. iti (इति) ends the list.
tām śṛṇu (ताम् शृणु) is the command. Hear that faith. The detail is the next verses.
Sanskrit in this line
śraddhā (श्रद्धा) is feminine, so the three adjectives take the feminine ī (ई). sāttvika (सात्त्विक) becomes sāttvikī (सात्त्विकी), rājasa (राजस) becomes rājasī (राजसी), tāmasa (तामस) becomes tāmasī (तामसी). Later, when the noun is yajñaḥ (यज्ञः), the same strands will be masculine sāttvikaḥ (सात्त्विकः). The strand has not changed. The noun it agrees with has.
Say it back
Three kinds, then the source. If svabhāvajā (स्वभावजा) is left out, the three names are a list with nowhere to stand. Stay until the faith is born of one's own nature.