🪷 Śraddhā-Traya-Vibhāga · 3 Types of Faith

sāttvika · BG 17.11

Performed as prescribed (vidhi-dṛṣṭa), without expectation of fruit, with the conviction "this is to be done" (yaṣṭavyam eveti)

Motive: duty-as-offering · niṣkāma-yajña · BG 2.47 in ritual form

rājasa · BG 17.12

Performed with expectation of fruit (phala-ākāṅkṣī) and as a display (dambhārtham)

Motive: show + status + future reward

tāmasa · BG 17.13

Performed without vidhi, without food-distribution (asṛṣṭa-anna), without mantra (mantra-hīnam), without dakṣiṇā, without śraddhā

Motive: mechanical · mindless · or actively transgressive

śārīra-tapas (body · BG 17.14):

• deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanam — honoring devas, brāhmaṇas, gurus, the wise
• śauca — purity
• ārjava — straightforwardness
• brahmacarya — sense-restraint
• ahiṁsā — non-violence

vāṅmaya-tapas (speech · BG 17.15):

• anudvegakaram — speech that causes no agitation
• satyam — truthful
• priya-hitam — pleasant and beneficial
• svādhyāya-abhyasanam — habitual recitation of scripture

mānasa-tapas (mind · BG 17.16):

• manaḥ-prasāda — serenity of mind
• saumyatvam — gentleness
• mauna — silence (inner stillness)
• ātma-vinigraha — self-restraint
• bhāva-saṁśuddhi — purity of inner-being

sāttvika · BG 17.17

The threefold tapas is practiced with highest śraddhā by those without desire for fruit and joined to steadiness (yuktaiḥ).

rājasa · BG 17.18

Tapas performed for honour, respect, worship, and display (dambha); its result is unstable and impermanent.

tāmasa · BG 17.19

Tapas performed through deluded insistence, with self-torment or for the destruction of another.

sāttvika · BG 17.20

Given as a duty (dātavyam iti), to a worthy recipient (deśe kāle ca pātre ca), without expectation of return

rājasa · BG 17.21

Given expecting return (prati-upakārārtham), or expecting fruit (phalam uddiśya), or grudgingly (kliśyamānena)

tāmasa · BG 17.22

Given at the wrong place/time, to unworthy recipients, without respect (asat-kṛtam), with contempt (avajñātam)

"OṀ TAT SAT — this threefold designation of Brahman is remembered. By this the brāhmaṇas, the Vedas, and the yajñas were established of old." — BG 17.23

This is the verse from which Vidhyamitra's footer-seal ॐ तत् सत् comes. Every page of this substrate is sealed Oṁ Tat Sat at the bottom.

"Whatever offering, gift, austerity, or action is performed WITHOUT ŚRADDHĀ — it is called ASAT (unreal), O Pārtha, and it bears no fruit here or hereafter." — BG 17.28

Reading boundary: BG 17 describes guṇa-shaped qualities and motives for study and self-examination. Vidhyamitra does not assign a person a sāttvika, rājasa, tāmasa, or mixed faith identity.

• worship · BG 17.4-6 — What is being revered, and are fear, display, power-seeking, coercion, or self-harm shaping the practice?
  Practice: Examine the object, motive, method, and consequences of worship with śāstra and qualified guidance; do not infer them from planetary placements.
• food · BG 17.7-10 — How do freshness, preparation, excess, moderation, bodily response, and the circumstances of eating compare with the qualities named in the verses?
  Practice: Use the verses as an āhāra study lens while respecting real health needs, allergies, access, culture, and qualified medical advice.
• yajña · BG 17.11-13 — Is the offering performed according to vidhi and duty, or driven by reward, display, neglect, or absence of śraddhā?
  Practice: Examine the actual intention and performance of the offering; a horoscope cannot reveal either.
• tapas · BG 17.14-19 — Do bodily, verbal, and mental disciplines cultivate purity, truthful beneficial speech, steadiness, and non-harm—or display, domination, and injury?
  Practice: Begin with one observable discipline of body, speech, or mind, and reject austerity that causes coercive or harmful injury.
• dāna · BG 17.20-22 — Are place, time, recipient, respect, motive, and expectation of return being considered honestly?
  Practice: Assess a real act of giving by its context and conduct without converting the guṇa descriptions into labels for donor or recipient worth.

Oṁ Tat Sat: Read BG 17.23-27 as a discipline of offering beyond ego and fruit-claim: Oṁ, Tat, Sat. The words are not a substitute for truthful, non-harmful action.

Health boundary: The food descriptions are scriptural study material, not a medical diagnosis or a personalized diet prescription. No birth chart determines dietary safety.

Chart boundary: A horoscope does not establish a reader's faith, worship, conduct, diet, austerity, generosity, spiritual attainment, or human worth.