Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 17, Verse 28

अश्रद्धया हुतं दत्तं तपस्तप्तं कृतं च यत् |
असदित्युच्यते पार्थ न च तत्प्रेत्य नो इह || 28||

aśhraddhayā hutaṁ dattaṁ tapas taptaṁ kṛitaṁ cha yat
asad ity uchyate pārtha na cha tat pretya no iha

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; no—not; iha—in this world

Translation

BG 17.28: O son of Pritha, whatever acts of sacrifice, charity, or penance are done without faith, are termed as “Asat.” They are useless both in this world and the next.

Commentary

In order to firmly establish that all Vedic activities should be performed with faith, Shree Krishna now emphasizes the futility of Vedic activities done without it. He says that those who act without faith in the scriptures do not get good fruits in this life because their actions are not perfectly executed. And since they do not fulfill the conditions of the Vedic scriptures, they do not receive good fruits in the next life either. Thus, one’s faith should not be based upon one’s own impressions of the mind and intellect. Instead, it should be based upon the infallible authority of the Vedic scriptures and the Guru. This is the essence of the seventeenth chapter.

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