Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17, Verse 1

अर्जुन उवाच । ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः । तेषां निष्ठा तु का कृष्ण सत्त्वमाहो रजस्तमः

arjuna uvāca | ye śāstravidhimutsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ | teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvamāho rajastamaḥ

Translation

Whoso worship, setting aside the ordinance of the scripture, endued with faith — what faith is theirs? Is it Sattva, or Rajas, or Tamas?

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

ye

who

śāstravidhim

the rule of the Shāstras

utsṛjya

having cast away

yajante

sacrifice

śraddhayā

with faith

anvitāḥ

endowed

teṣām

of them

niṣṭhā

state

tu

indeed

kā

what

kṛṣṇa

O Krishna

sattvam

Sattva

āho

or

rajaḥ

Rajah

tamaḥ

Tamah

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

"Whoso" is not exactly specified. It must refer to those who, endued with faith — i.e., thinking that there is something beyond, on observing the conduct of the learned — worship the Gods and the like, unaware of the procedure laid down in the scriptures, the Śruti and the Smṛti. Those, on the other hand, who, while knowing the injunctions of the scripture, set them aside and worship the Gods contrary to those injunctions — they cannot be meant here, because of the qualification that they are 'endued with faith.' Arjuna's question is: Is the worship offered by them to the Gods, etc., based in Sattva, or Rajas, or Tamas?