Verse 17.3

सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत ।

श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्धः स एव सः ॥

17.3

Transliteration

sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata |

śraddhāmayo'yaṃ puruṣo yo yacchraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

The faith of each is in accordance with his nature, O Arjuna. The man consists of his faith; as a man's faith is, so is he.

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

according to one's inner being
of everyone
faith
is
O Bharata

made of faith
this
person
who
whose faith is in whatever
he
indeed
that

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

This verse makes one of the Gita's boldest claims about human nature. Everyone's faith follows the shape of his inner being (sattva, here in the sense of mind or character). A person is made of faith, śraddhāmaya; as the faith, so the person. Faith here is not only religious belief but the deep orientation of trust and value that guides a life. The verse suggests that to change one's life one must change what one truly trusts and values.