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 ||
Arjuna reflects that a person’s faith conforms to the inner disposition of the mind and heart: a human being is, in a real sense, made of faith—whatever one’s faith is like, that is what one becomes. In response, the Lord explains how such inner tendencies can be recognized in practice: those dominated by clarity and harmony worship the gods; those driven by passion and ambition turn toward yakṣas and rākṣasas; and those sunk in darkness and confusion worship spirits of the dead and hosts of ghosts. The ethical point is that worship is not merely ritual—it reveals and reinforces one’s character and the quality of one’s inner life.
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.