Word meanings
- aśraddhayā
- without faith
- hutam
- sacrifice
- dattam
- charity
- tapaḥ
- penance
- taptam
- practiced
- kṛtam
- done
- ca
- and
- yat
- which
- asat
- perishable
- iti
- thus
- ucyate
- are termed as
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- na
- not
- ca
- and
- tat
- that
- pretya
- in the next world
- na u
- not
- iha
- in this world
Translations
Whatever is sacrificed, given, or performed, and whatever austerity is practiced without faith, it is called 'Asat', O Arjuna; it is of no value here or hereafter (after death).
Whatever is done without faith, whether it be sacrifice, austerity, gift, or anything else, is called Asat (meaning "Unreal"), for it is the negation of Sat, O Arjuna! Such an act has no significance, here or hereafter.
O son of Prtha, whatever is offered in sacrifice and given in charity, as also whatever austerity is undertaken or whatever is done without faith, is said to be of no avail. And it is of no consequence after death, nor here.
हे पार्थ ! अश्रद्धासे किया हुआ हवन, दिया हुआ दान और तपा हुआ तप तथा और भी जो,कुछ किया जाय, वह सब 'असत्' -- ऐसा कहा जाता है। उसका फल न यहाँ होता है, न मरनेके बाद ही होता है अर्थात् उसका कहीं भी सत् फल नहीं होता।Commentary
Asat That which changes form and has no permanent existence. It does not mean nonexistence as such. Acts of sacrifice, austerity and gift that are performed without faith, under pressure, or to prevent some sort of trouble or to gratify a craving, are Asat in their nature. They yield no permanent benefit or fruit to anybody. Any sacrifice, austerity or gift done without dedicating it to the Lord will be of no avail to the doer in this earthly life here or in the life beyond hereafter.
It would be as useless as showers of rain falling on rocky ground or pouring oblations of ghee (clarified butter) on cold ashes. If you have no faith you will become egoistic and obstinate. Your heart will become hard. If you perform even hundreds of sacrifices without faith, without the spirit of selfsurrender to the Lord, even if you distribute the wealth of the whole world in charity without faith in and devotion to the Lord, all these would be worthless and useless. The sages will not appreciate such sacrifices or gifts.
Energy, money and time are simply wasted. Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the seventeenth discourse entitled The Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith. ,