सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत |
श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्ध: स एव स: || 3||
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śhraddhā bhavati bhārata
śhraddhā-mayo ‘yaṁ puruṣho yo yach-chhraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ
sattva-anurūpā—conforming to the nature of one’s mind; sarvasya—all; śhraddhā—faith; bhavati—is; bhārata—Arjun, the scion of Bharat; śhraddhāmayaḥ—possessing faith; ayam—that; puruṣhaḥ—human being; yaḥ—who; yat-śhraddhaḥ—whatever the nature of their faith; saḥ—their; eva—verily; saḥ—they
Translation:
The faith of each man is in accordance with his natural disposition. A man, Ο Bhārata, is made of his faith; what his faith is, that verily he is.
Commentary:
The mind (the inner organ) is alone the Jiva (man). So if the mind is pure, purity becomes the essence of that man. Here the word ‘sattva‘ means mind. Every individual acquires that nature which he has brought with him from his experience in former births. And his faith takes on that quality only. He is that faith, qualified by his Samskaras. So it is the duty of man to instill Sattvic disposition into his character and by practice transcend that also to reach the highest state. The Tamasic and Rajasic kinds of Sraddha should be abandoned, because they also pull man downwards into lower forms of existence. Among the qualities, Sattva is the nearest to Atma, and in Suddha-sattva, man directly perceives Atma, and enters the Nirguna state. That is the real Self of man, that is his final goal.
Sri Ramakrishna Say —
“One looks on God exactly according to one’s own inner feeling. Take, for instance, a devotee with an excess of tamas. He thinks that the Divine Mother eats goat. So he slaughters one for Her. Again, the devotee endowed with rajas cooks rice and various other dishes for the Mother. But the sattvic devotee doesn’t make any outer show of his worship. People don’t even know he is worshipping. If he has no flowers, he worships God with mere Ganges water and the leaves of the bel-tree. His food offering to the Deity consists of sweetened puffed rice or a few candies. Occasionally he cooks a little rice pudding for the Deity.
“There is also another class of devotees, those who are beyond the three gunas. They have the nature of a child. Their worship consists in chanting God’s name — just His name. [Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]
Swami Vivekananda Says —
What I think is practical, is to me the only practicality in the world. If I am a shopkeeper, I think shopkeeping the only practical pursuit in the world. If I am a thief, I think stealing is the best means of being practical; others are not practical. You see how we all use this word practical for things we like and can do. Therefore I will ask you to understand that Vedanta, though it is intensely practical, is always so in the sense of the ideal.[Source]
- “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” is a phrase from the Bible, Proverbs 23:7.
- One can attain success in any endeavor if one perseveres with firm determination (MB 12.153.116). Whatever a person of purified mind desires, is obtained (MuU 3.01.10). The doer of good acts becomes good, and the doer of evil becomes evil. One becomes virtuous by virtuous deeds and vicious by vicious acts (BrU 4.04.05). We all have the power to change. One becomes what one constantly and intensely thinks of, irrespective of reasons, such as reverence, fear, jealousy, love, or even hatred (BP 11.09.22). You always get what you look for — consciously or unconsciously. The thought produces action; action soon becomes habits and habit leads to success in any endeavor when it becomes passion. Become passionate about what you want to achieve, and you will achieve it. Burning desire brings out the dormant forces.
Question: What kind of Sraddha does man acquire?
Answer: It is in conformity with the disposition of his mind.
Question: With what is man filled?
Answer: Sraddha.
Question: What is the state of man?
Answer: It is just what his mind is. This state is called Jiva. (The real man is the supreme Self and not the reflected personality created in the mind).
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 17 
(28 Verses)
