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.
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]
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)
—–
“People of bygone generations had tremendous faith. What faith Haladhari’s father had! Once he was on the way to his daughter’s house when he noticed some beautiful flowers and vilwa-leaves. He gathered them for the worship of the Family Deity and walked back five or six miles to his own house.
“Once a theatrical troupe in the village was enacting the life of Rama. When Kaikeyi asked Rama to go into exile in the forest, Haladhari’s father, who had been watching the performance, sprang up. He went to the actor who played Kaikeyi, crying out, ‘You wretch!’, and was about to burn the actor’s face with a torch. He was a very pious man. After finishing his ablutions he would stand in the water and meditate on the Deity, reciting the invocation: ‘I meditate on Thee, of red hue and four faces’, while tears streamed down his cheeks.
“When my father walked along the lanes of the village wearing his wooden sandals, the shopkeepers would stand up out of respect and say, ‘There he comes!’ When he bathed in the Haldarpukur, the villagers would not have the courage to get into the water. Before bathing they would inquire if he had finished his bath.
“When my father chanted the name of Raghuvir, his chest would turn crimson. This also happened to me. When I saw the cows at Vrindavan returning from the pasture, I was transported into a divine mood and my body became red.
“Very strong was the faith of the people in those days. One hears that God used to dance then, taking the form of Kali, while the devotee clapped his hands keeping time.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
“The sannyasi’s way of living is like observing the ekadasi fast without taking even a drop of water. If he clings to enjoyment, then he has reason to be afraid. ‘Woman and gold’ is enjoyment. If a monk enjoys it, he is swallowing his own spittle, as it were. There are different kinds of enjoyment: money, wealth, name, fame, and sense pleasures. It is not good for a sannyasi to sit in the company of a woman devotee, or even to talk to her. This injures him and others as well. Then others cannot learn from him; he cannot set an example to humanity. A sannyasi keeps his body in order to teach mankind.
“To sit with a woman or talk to her a long time has also been described as a kind of sexual intercourse. There are eight kinds. To listen to a woman and enjoy her conversation is one kind; to speak about a woman is another kind; to whisper to her privately is a third kind; to keep something belonging to a woman and enjoy it is a fourth kind; to touch her is a fifth. Therefore a sannyasi should not salute his guru’s young wife, touching her feet. These are the rules for sannyasis.
“But the case is quite different with householders. After the birth of one or two children, the husband and wife should live as brother and sister. The other seven kinds of sexual intercourse do not injure them much.
“A householder has various debts: debts to the gods, to the fathers, and to the rishis. He also owes a debt to his wife. He should make her the mother of one or two children and support her if she is a chaste woman.
“Householders do not know who is a good wife and who is a bad wife, who is a vidyasakti and who is an avidyasakti. A vidyasakti, a good wife, has very little lust and anger. She sleeps little. She pushes her husband’s head away from her. She is full of affection, kindness, devotion, modesty, and other noble qualities. Such a wife serves all, looking on all men as her children. Further, she helps increase her husband’s love of God. She doesn’t spend much money lest her husband should have to work hard and thus not get leisure to think of God.
“Mannish women have different traits. These are bad traits: squint eyes and hollow eyes, catlike eyes, lantern jaws like a calf’s, and pigeon-breast”
GIRISH: “What is the way for people like us?”
MASTER: “Bhakti is the only essential thing. Bhakti has different aspects: the sattvic, the rajasic, and the tamasic. One who has sattvic bhakti is very modest and humble. But a man with tamasic bhakti is like a highwayman in his attitude toward God. He says: ‘O God, I am chanting Your name; how can I be a sinner? O God, You are my own Mother; You must reveal Yourself to me.'”
GIRISH (smiling): “It is you, sir, who teach us tamasic bhakti.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
One day we asked: “Does God exist? How can one see God?”
The Master replied: “God really exists. You do not see stars during the day, but that does not mean that the stars do not exist. There is butter in milk, but can anyone know this by looking at milk? In order to get butter you must churn the milk in a cool place before sunrise. If you want to catch fish in a pond, you have to learn the art of fishing from those who know it, and then you must throw the line into the water and sit patiently with a fishing rod. Soon the fish will grab the bait. Then, as soon as the float sinks, you can pull the fish to shore. Similarly, you cannot realize God by merely wishing. Have faith in the instructions of a holy man. Make your mind like a fishing rod and your prana, or life force, like a hook. Your devotion and japa must be like the bait. Eventually you will be blessed by the vision of God.”
Previously we had not believed in the existence of God. Furthermore, after associating with the Brahmo Samaj we had come to believe that God is formless. The Master read our minds and said: “Yes, God can be seen. Could God, whose creation is so beautiful and enchanting, be imperceptible?”
We said: “Sir, whatever you say is true. Who can refute you? Is it possible to realize God in this life?”
The Master replied: “You get what you desire. Faith alone is the key to success.” Then he sang a song:
As is a man’s meditation, so is his feeling of love;
As is a man’s feeling of love, so is his gain;
And faith is the root of all.
If in the Nectar Lake of Mother Kali’s feet My mind remains immersed,
Of little use are worship, oblations, or sacrifice.
The Master continued: “The more you advance in one direction, the more you leave behind the opposite direction. If you move ten steps towards the east, you move ten steps away from the west.”
— Ram Chandra Datta (Source: Ramakrishna as We Saw Him)
- “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)
