Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17, Verse 3 (BG 17.3) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 17.3 — Faith According to One's Nature In this world, we observe that the faith nourishing each person's character differs greatly from one to another. The greater the diversity we perceive in this faith, the more our curiosity grows to understand its cause. The Blessed Lord teaches here that each person's faith is in accordance with their nature—that is, with their inherent tendencies and conditioning. It is difficult to say with certainty whether faith determines our nature, or whether our nature determines our faith. There exists a mutual interdependence between the two. Yet in the Gita, nature is declared to be the determinant of faith. Although in life, through painful experiences or other powerful causes, a person's one form of faith may be shattered and a new faith may be born, and in such circumstances their nature may also conform to that new faith—nevertheless, from a general perspective, the quality and character of each person's faith corresponds to their nature. The essence and substance of faith lies in that profound power within a human being through which they maintain unwavering resolve in the attainment of their chosen goal. A person's capacity itself determines their confidence in achieving that goal. Subsequently, this confidence doubles their capacity and aids in the execution of their plans. Thus, capacity and faith are mutually complementary and supportive. The influence of qualities upon human nature has been described earlier. The predominance of any particular quality acquired in past time manifests in a person from their very childhood. The word "sattvanurupа" employed here points to this very truth. **The Human Being is Made of Faith** Every devotee who worships or reveres a deity with faith obtains that deity as the fruit of their faith. There is no doubt that a human being becomes according to their faith. All thinkers have acknowledged the importance of faith in human action and achievement. In the language of the Gita itself, this truth has been explained in detail in the preceding chapters.