Verse 17.3

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 17.3:

सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत ।
श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्-छ्रद्धः स एव सः ॥ ३ ॥

sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata |
śraddhāmayo'yaṃ puruṣo yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ || 3 ||

sattva–with their inner mental state; anurūpā–in accordance; sarvasya–of everyone; śraddhā–faith; bhavati–comes into being; bhārata–O descendant of King Bharata; śraddhāmayaḥ–imbued with faith; ayam–that; puruṣaḥ–person; yaḥ–who; yat-śraddhaḥ–whichever object of faith; saḥ–that; eva saḥ–same (nature).

O descendant of Bharata, everyone’s faith is determined by the disposition of their inner mental state. Every person has faith, and they develop a disposition corresponding with the worshipful object of their faith.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Sattvam refers to the internal sense, the mind, or citta. It is of three types: in goodness (sāttvika), passion (rājasika) or ignorance (tāmasika). A person whose heart is sāttvika possesses sāttvika faith, a person whose heart is rājasika possesses rājasika faith, and one whose heart is tāmasika has tāmasika faith. Yac-chraddhaḥ means that one’s nature develops according to one’s worshipable object. This means that a person’s nature corresponds with the nature of the person he worships–demigod, demon or Rākṣasa.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

A living entity’s inherent asset is his constitutioanl faith, or rati. That faith is related to Bhagavān only, and it is unquestionably beyond the modes of nature. However, in the bound state, the constitutional nature of the living entity becomes distorted. When the living entity associates with matter and consequently performs either auspicious or inauspicious activities, the result is distorted faith, and this faith is known as sāttvika, rājasika or tāmasika in accordance with who that living entity’s worshipable deity is.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “O Bhārata, everyone has faith. A person’s faith corresponds with his disposition of mind, and it develops according to the nature of the deity he has placed his faith in. In reality, the living entity is without material qualities, being constitutionally My aṃsa, or part, but having forgotten his relationship with Me, he has become bound by the modes of nature. That materialistic nature is acquired as a result of past impressions formed at the time of becoming averse to Me, and it is this aversion that molds the nature, or disposition, of the mind (citta, or sattva). When it is purified, the result is fearlessness. The faith of a purified heart is the seed of bhakti, which is nirguṇa, beyond the modes of nature, whereas the faith of an impure heart is saguṇa, bound by the modes. As long as this faith does not become nirguṇa or directed toward nirguṇa (Bhagavān), it is called kāma, lust. I will now explain faith within the modes of nature, characterized by material desires. Please listen.”