अर्जुन
In plain words
Arjuna said: Krishna, what is the condition of those who set aside śāstric rules yet worship with faith? Is their condition sāttvika, rājasa, or tāmasa?
Word for word
Those who, having set aside the injunction of śāstra, worship endowed with śraddhā: of them, but, what [is] the standing, O Kṛṣṇa: sattva, or rajas, [or] tamas?
ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयाऽन्विताःतेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वमाहो रजस्तमः
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
‘तस्माच्छास्त्रं प्रमाणं ते’(भ. गी. १६ । २४) इति भगवद्वाक्यात् लब्धप्रश्नबीजः अर्जुन उवाच —
ये केचित् अविशेषिताः शास्त्रविधिं शास्त्रविधानं श्रुतिस्मृतिशास्त्रचोदनाम् उत्सृज्य परित्यज्य यजन्ते देवादीन् पूजयन्ति श्रद्धया अन्विताः श्रद्धया आस्तिक्यबुद्ध्या अन्विताः संयुक्ताः सन्तः — श्रुतिलक्षणं स्मृतिलक्षणं वा कञ्चित् शास्त्रविधिम् अपश्यन्तः वृद्धव्यवहारदर्शनादेव श्रद्दधानतया ये देवादीन् पूजयन्ति, ते इह ‘ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः’ इत्येवं गृह्यन्ते । ये पुनः कञ्चित् शास्त्रविधिं उपलभमाना एव तम् उत्सृज्य अयथाविधि देवादीन् पूजयन्ति, ते इह ‘ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते’ इति न परिगृह्यन्ते । कस्मात् ? श्रद्धया अन्वितत्वविशेषणात् । देवादिपूजाविधिपरं किञ्चित् शास्त्रं पश्यन्त एव तत् उत्सृज्य अश्रद्दधानतया तद्विहितायां देवादिपूजायां श्रद्धया अन्विताः प्रवर्तन्ते इति न शक्यं कल्पयितुं यस्मात् , तस्मात् पूर्वोक्ता एव ‘ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः’ इत्यत्र गृह्यन्ते तेषाम् एवंभूतानां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वम् आहो रजः तमः, किं सत्त्वं निष्ठा अवस्थानम् , आहोस्वित् रजः, अथवा तमः इति । एतत् उक्तं भवति — या तेषां देवादिविषया पूजा, सा किं सात्त्विकी, आहोस्वित् राजसी, उत तामसी इति ॥ १ ॥
In plain words
The Lord had just said, "So let scripture be your measure" (Gītā 16.24). That one sentence gave Arjuna the seed of his question, and he spoke —
Some people -- unnamed, unspecified -- set aside the injunction of scripture entirely, the whole authority carried by Sruti and Smrti, and still worship, still revere, gods and other beings, with real faith -- faith meaning, specifically, the conviction that what they are worshipping actually exists. But that description covers two very different kinds of people, so let us separate them. There are those who have simply never encountered any scriptural rule at all, of either kind, and who worship out of a sincere trust built purely on watching their elders do the same -- it is them the verse means by 'those who, having set scripture aside, worship with faith.' Then there are those who do know some scriptural rule, and deliberately abandon it, worshipping in the wrong way -- they are not who the verse is talking about. Why not? Because of that one word: 'faith.' You simply cannot imagine someone who sees a scripture telling them how to worship, rejects it out of distrust, and yet somehow worships faithfully according to the very practice that scripture prescribes -- that makes no sense. So it has to be the first kind of people the verse is describing: those who worship with real faith, having never known any rule to abandon in the first place. Now, what fixed disposition do people like that have, Krishna? Is it sattva, or rajas, or tamas? In other words: the worship they offer to gods and the rest -- is it sattvic, or rajasic, or tamasic?
Close to the Sanskrit
From the Lord's statement, 'Therefore let scripture be your authority' (Bhagavad Gītā 16.24), Arjuna, having thereby obtained the seed of his question, said —
Those who -- some, unspecified -- having abandoned, renounced, the injunction of scripture, i.e. the scriptural rule, the sanction of Sruti and Smrti scriptures, worship, revere, gods and so on, endowed with faith -- endowed with faith, i.e. endowed, joined, with the conviction affirming the reality [of what is worshipped] -- being so: [this needs distinguishing into two cases.] Those who, seeing no scriptural injunction at all, of the nature of Sruti or Smrti, out of trust arising merely from observing the customary practice of elders, worship gods and so on -- they, here, are understood by [the phrase] 'those who, having abandoned scriptural injunction, worship, endowed with faith.' But those who, while indeed perceiving some scriptural injunction, abandon it and worship gods and so on contrary to due procedure -- they, here, are NOT included under 'those who, having abandoned scriptural injunction, worship.' Why? Because of the qualifying phrase 'endowed with faith.' It cannot be supposed that one who, while indeed seeing some scripture concerned with the injunction for worshipping gods, abandons it, and out of lack of faith nevertheless engages, with faith, in the very worship of gods enjoined by it -- since this cannot be conceived, therefore it is precisely those previously described who are meant here, in 'those who, having abandoned scriptural injunction, worship, endowed with faith.' Of them, being of such a nature, what, then, is their disposition, O Krsna -- sattva, or rajas, or tamas? That is, is sattva -- the fixed state -- their disposition, or rajas, or else tamas? This is what is being asked: the worship they direct toward gods and so on -- is it sattvika, or rajasa, or tamasa?