Devanagari
अश्रद्धया हुतं दत्तं तपस्तप्तं कृतं च यत् ।
असदित्युच्यते पार्थ न च तत्प्रेत्य नो इह ॥ २८ ॥
Verse text
aśraddhayā hutaṁ dattaṁ
tapas taptaṁ kṛtaṁ ca yat
asad ity ucyate pārtha
na ca tat pretya no iha
Synonyms
aśraddhayā
—
without faith
;
hutam
—
offered in sacrifice
;
dattam
—
given
;
tapaḥ
—
penance
;
taptam
—
executed
;
kṛtam
—
performed
;
ca
—
also
;
yat
—
that which
;
asat
—
false
;
iti
—
thus
;
ucyate
—
is said to be
;
pārtha
—
O son of Pṛthā
;
na
—
never
;
ca
—
also
;
tat
—
that
;
pretya
—
after death
;
na u
—
nor
;
iha
—
in this life.
Translation
Anything done as sacrifice, charity or penance without faith in the Supreme, O son of Pṛthā, is impermanent. It is called asat and is useless both in this life and the next.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
28. O son of Pṛthā, whatever is offered in the fire, whatever is given in charity, whatever is undertaken as austerity, but which is done without faith, is called asat since it bears no result now or in the next life.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
28. O son of Pṛthā, whatever is offered in the fire, whatever is given in charity, whatever else is undertaken, but which is done without faith, is called asat since it bears no result now or in the next life.
Purport
Anything done without the transcendental objective – whether it be sacrifice, charity or penance – is useless. Therefore in this verse it is declared that such activities are abominable. Everything should be done for the Supreme in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Without such faith, and without the proper guidance, there can never be any fruit. In all the Vedic scriptures, faith in the Supreme is advised. In the pursuit of all Vedic instructions, the ultimate goal is the understanding of Kṛṣṇa. No one can obtain success without following this principle. Therefore, the best course is to work from the very beginning in Kṛṣṇa consciousness under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. That is the way to make everything successful.
In the conditional state, people are attracted to worshiping demigods, ghosts, or Yakṣas like Kuvera. The mode of goodness is better than the modes of passion and ignorance, but one who takes directly to Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental to all three modes of material nature. Although there is a process of gradual elevation, if one, by the association of pure devotees, takes directly to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is the best way. And that is recommended in this chapter. To achieve success in this way, one must first find the proper spiritual master and receive training under his direction. Then one can achieve faith in the Supreme. When that faith matures, in course of time, it is called love of God. This love is the ultimate goal of the living entities. One should therefore take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness directly. That is the message of this Seventeenth Chapter.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Seventeenth Chapter of the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā in the matter of the Divisions of Faith.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“I have heard about sat actions (those indicating Brahman). What about asat actions?”
Whatever oblation is offered, whatever charity is given, whatever austerity is undertaken, whatever other actions is performed, is asat if performed without faith. If there is no faith, [Note: Sattvika faith is understood here.] whatever oblations are offered are actually not offered, whatever charity is given is actually not give, whether austerity is performed is actually not given, and whatever is done is actually not done. Everything is asat, since one obtains no results in the next world (pretya) or in this world (iha).
This chapter describes how sattvic actions of various types, performed with faith, lead to liberation.
Thus the commentaries on the seventeenth chapter of the Gītā have been completed for the pleasure of the devotees’ hearts, by the mercy of the ācāryas.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Therefore all acts should be done with sattvika faith. [Note: Sattvika svabhāva does not necessarily imply following scriptures, as explained in verse 4. However it is easier and most likely for those with sattva faith, worshipping devas and following sattvika eating, sacrifice and charity, to adopt the scriptural injunctions and dedicate the acts to Viṣṇu with om tat sat. One follower of Rāmānuja mentions that there must be obedience to scripture and faith as well. Faith without scripture and scripture without faith are both unproductive.] Without that, all acts are useless. Such acts are criticized in this verse.
Whatever sacrifice (hutam), charity (dattam), or austerity, or anything else, such as praises or respect, is performed without faith (in scripture), it is all asat, useless. Why? Ca indicates the reason. It is all useless since, being done without faith, it does not give results in the next life (pretya), because the prescribed acts were not perfectly executed, nor does it even give fame in this life (iha), because such faithless acts are condemned by the saintly.
Rejecting faith arising from ones impressions, one who takes shelter of faith arising from scripture will be qualified for the highest goal. This is the ordinance of the seventeenth chapter.
Chapter 18
Surrender Unto Me
In his Purport, Srila Prabhupada says: "Although there is a process of gradual elevation, if one, by the association of pure devotees, takes directly to Krsna consciousness, that is the best way. And that is recommended in this chapter. To achieve success in this way, one must first find the proper spiritual master and receive training under his direction. Then one can achieve faith in the Supreme. When that faith matures, in course of time, it is called love of God. This love is the ultimate goal of the living entities. One should therefore take to Krsna consciousness directly. That is the message of Seventeenth Chapter.
That is the conclusion this Chapter, that one should direct his energies, not through the gradual process of becoming elevated on the tree of the material world, gradually transmigrating like a karma‑kandi, but one should by the mercy of thy spiritual master directly understand the purpose of the gradual elevation, and directly take to the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thereby cutting completely his entanglements and attachments in the material world.
Thus this Chapter concludes like any other chapter has concluded, that we should take directly to the devotional service of the Lord.
THUS ENDS THE STUDY OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.