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Swami Mukundananda
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The Importance Of Faith
Posted on October 6, 2014 by Author
In the previous articles, a lot of stress was laid on the essence of Karm Yog and the philosophy that one must not hanker for the fruits of actions. Shree Krishna has instructed us in many verses that we must keep our minds attached to him while performing our daily chores and duties.

Moving forward, we learn about one of the most important aspects in spirituality which is very essential for our growth – Faith.

In verse 31, chapter 3 of the Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna says,

ye me matam idaṁ nityam anutiṣhṭhanti mānavāḥ
śhraddhāvanto ’nasūyanto muchyante te ’pi karmabhiḥ

Those who abide by these teachings of mine, with profound faith and free from cavil, are released from the bondage of karma.

The Supreme Lord terms the siddhānt (principle) explained by him as mata (opinion). An opinion is a personal view, while a principle is a universal fact.

Opinions can differ amongst teachers, but the principle is the same. Philosophers and teachers name their opinion as principle, but in the Gita, the Lord has named the principle explained by him as opinion. By his example, he is teaching us humility and cordiality.

Having given the call for action, Shree Krishna now points out the virtues of accepting the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita with faith and following them in one’s life. Our prerogative as humans is to know the truth and then modify our lives accordingly. In this way, our mental fever (of lust, anger, greed, envy, illusion, etc.) gets pacified. In the previous verse, Shree Krishna had clearly explained to Arjun to offer all works to him. But he knows that this statement can cause ridicule from those who have no belief in God and rebuke from those who are envious of him. So, he now emphasizes the need for accepting the teachings with conviction. He says that by faithfully following these teachings one becomes free from the bondage of karma. But what happens to those who are faithless?

ye tvetad abhyasūyanto nānutiṣhṭhanti me matam
sarva-jñāna-vimūḍhāns tān viddhi naṣhṭān achetasaḥ

But those who find faults with my teachings, being bereft of knowledge and devoid of discrimination, they disregard these principles and bring about their own ruin.

The teachings presented by Shree Krishna are perfect for our eternal welfare. However, our material intellect has innumerable imperfections, and so we are not always able to comprehend the sublimity of his teachings or appreciate their benefits. If we could, what would be the difference between us tiny souls and the Supreme Divine Personality?

Thus, faith becomes a necessary ingredient for accepting the divine teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Wherever our intellect is unable to comprehend, rather than finding fault with the teachings, we must submit our intellect, “Shree Krishna has said it.

There must be veracity in it, which I cannot understand at present. Let me accept it for now and engage in spiritual sādhanā. I will be able to comprehend it in future, when I progress in spirituality through sādhanā.” This attitude is called śhraddhā, or faith.

Jagadguru Shankaracharaya defines śhraddhā as:

guru vedānta vākyeṣhu dṛiḍho viśhvāsaḥ śhraddhā

“Śhraddhā is strong faith in the words of the Guru and the scriptures.”

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained it similarly:

śhraddhā śhabde viśwāsa kahe sudṛiḍha niśhchaya (Chaitanya Charitāmṛit, Madhya Leela, 2.62)

“The word Śhraddhā means strong faith in God and Guru, even though we may not comprehend their message at present.”

The British poet, Alfred Tennyson said: “By faith alone, embrace believing, where we cannot prove.”

So, śhraddhā means earnestly digesting the comprehensible portions of the Bhagavad Gita, and also accepting the abstruse portions, with the hope that they will become comprehensible in future. However, one of the persistent defects of the material intellect is pride. Due to pride, whatever the intellect cannot comprehend at present, it often rejects as incorrect.

Though Shree Krishna’s teachings are presented by the omniscient Lord for the welfare of the souls, people still find fault in them, such as, “Why is God asking everything to be offered to him? Is he greedy? Is he an egotist that he asks Arjun to worship him?”

Shree Krishna says that such people are achetasaḥ, or “devoid of discrimination,” because they cannot distinguish between the pure and the impure, the righteous and the unrighteous, the Creator and the created, the Supreme Master and the servant.

Such people “bring about their own ruin,” because they reject the path to eternal salvation and keep rotating in the cycle of life and death.