Chapter 17, Verse 28
Sraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga — Sanskrit shloka, transliteration, word meanings, English translation, and commentary.
Original Sanskrit verse
Transliteration
Word meanings
aśhraddhayā—without faith; hutam—sacrifice; dattam—charity; tapaḥ—penance; taptam—practiced; kṛitam—done; cha—and; yat—which; asat—perishable; iti—thus; uchyate—are termed as; pārtha—Arjun, the son of Pritha; na—not; cha—and; tat—that; pretya—in the next world; na u—not; iha—in this world
English translation
Whatever is sacrificed, given, or performed, and whatever austerity is practiced without faith, it is called 'Asat', O Arjuna; it is of no value here or hereafter (after death).
— Swami Sivananda
Listen to Shloka 17.28
Commentary
Asat That which changes form and has no permanent existence. It does not mean nonexistence as such. Acts of sacrifice; austerity and gift that are performed without faith; under pressure; or to prevent some sort of trouble or to gratify a craving; are Asat in their nature. They yield no permanent benefit or fruit to anybody. Any sacrifice; austerity or gift done without dedicating it to the Lord will be of no avail to the doer in this earthly life here or in the life beyond hereafter. It would be as useless as showers of rain falling on rocky ground or pouring oblations of ghee (clarified butter) on cold ashes. If you have no faith you will become egoistic and obstinate. Your heart will become hard. If you perform even hundreds of sacrifices without faith; without the spirit of selfsurrender to the Lord; even if you distribute the wealth of the whole world in charity without faith in and devotion to the Lord; all these would be worthless and useless. The sages will not appreciate such sacrifices or gifts. Energy; money and time are simply wasted. Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita; the science of the Eternal; the scripture of Yoga; the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna; ends the seventeenth discourse entitledThe Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith.,
Commentary by Swami Sivananda
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