Shloka 4
Abhimanyu’s Assault on Bhīṣma’s Screen; Banner-Felling and Reinforcements (सौभद्र-भीष्म-समरः)
हे भारत! सभी मनुष्योंकी श्रद्धा उनके अन्तःकरणके अनुरूप होती है। यह पुरुष श्रद्धामय है, इसलिये जो पुरुष जैसी श्रद्धावाला है, वह स्वयं भी वही हैः ३ ।। सम्बन्ध--श्रद्धाके अनुसार मनुष्योंकी निछाका स्वरूप बतलाया गया: इससे यह जाननेकी इच्छा हो सकती है कि ऐसे मनुष्योंकी पहचान कैसे हो कि कौन किस निषछावाला है। इसपर भगवान् कहते हैं-- यजसन्ते सात््विका देवान् यक्षरक्षांसि राजसा: । प्रेतान् भूतगणां श्वान्ये यजन्ते तामसा जना:,सात्त्विक पुरुष देवोंको पूजते हैं,/ राजस पुरुष यक्ष और राक्षसोंको३ तथा अन्य जो तामस मनुष्य हैं, वे प्रेत और भूतगणोंकोः पूजते हैं
arjuna uvāca | he bhārata sarva-manuṣyāṇāṁ śraddhā teṣāṁ antaḥkaraṇa-anurūpā bhavati | ayaṁ puruṣaḥ śraddhā-mayaḥ | tasmāt yādṛśī śraddhā yasya sa eva saḥ || (tataḥ) bhagavān uvāca | yajante sāttvikā devān yakṣa-rakṣāṁsi rājasāḥ | pretān bhūta-gaṇān anye yajante tāmasā janāḥ ||
O Bhārata, the faith of all people accords with their inmost disposition. A person is made of faith; whatever one’s faith is like, that indeed is what one is. Thus the Lord gives the signs: the sāttvika worship the gods; the rājasa worship yakṣas and rākṣasas; and the tāmasa worship the pretas and the hosts of spirits.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Faith (śraddhā) mirrors one’s inner constitution and, through repeated orientation and worship, shapes what one becomes. The guṇas are visible through the objects of reverence: sattva tends toward devas, rajas toward power-oriented beings like yakṣas and rākṣasas, and tamas toward pretas and bhūtas.
In the Gītā dialogue on the battlefield, Arjuna raises a psychological-ethical observation about faith and identity. Kṛṣṇa answers by classifying worship according to the three guṇas, giving Arjuna a practical way to discern inner tendencies by outward religious orientation.