Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 17, Verse 7
Verse 7
The Yoga of the Three Types of Faith
The food that is dear to each person is also of three kinds. Similarly, sacrifice, austerity, and charity are each of three kinds. Hear about their distinction.
Context & Meaning
Having established that faith is threefold and that external worship, food, and practices all take colour from the predominant guṇa, Krishna announces the systematic teaching that will occupy the rest of the chapter: the threefold classification of food, sacrifice, austerity, and charity. This is the Gita's great contribution to a practical ethics of daily life — not merely grand spiritual principles but a discrimination that can be applied at every meal, every act of worship, every effort at self-discipline, and every gift given. The invitation (śṛṇu — hear) signals that what follows requires careful attention: the distinctions are subtle but their consequences are significant.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
AdvaitaThe three guṇas pervade not just grand spiritual acts but the most ordinary dimensions of life: what we eat, how we worship, how we discipline ourselves, and how we give. This universality is itself a teaching: there is no domain of human life that stands outside the influence of the guṇas, and therefore no domain that stands outside the possibility of purification or degradation. The ordinary and the sacred are not separate territories.