Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Bg 17.3

sattvānurūpā sarvasya
śraddhā bhavati bhārata
śraddhā-mayo ’yaṁ puruṣo
yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ

Synonyms: 

sattva–anurūpā — according to the existence; sarvasya — of everyone; śraddhā — faith; bhavati — becomes; bhārata — O son of Bharata; śraddhā — faith; mayaḥ — full of; ayam — this; puruṣaḥ — living entity; yaḥ — who; yat — having which; śraddhaḥ — faith; saḥ — thus; eva — certainly; saḥ — he.

Translation: 

O son of Bharata, according to one’s existence under the various modes of nature, one evolves a particular kind of faith. The living being is said to be of a particular faith according to the modes he has acquired.

sattvānurūpā sarvasya, sattva + anurūpā, means according to one’s existence, sattva means one’s existence, or nature  

śraddhā bhavati bhārata, so one’s faith is determined by one’s existence 

and śraddhā-mayo ’yaṁ puruṣo, that means the Purusha is made of Sraddha, like anandmaya is made of ananda, 

yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ, so as is one’s faith so a person is.

So in this verse Krishna is talking about what a defining role our faith plays in shaping us.

So everything about us is largely determined by our faith, now we don’t understand what a role of faith plays in our life but simple things e.g. working for whole month and someone gives a piece of paper like cheque. In flight we are putting faith on pilot it may be reasonable faith.

Faith in not just product of our nature but faith is our essence. 

The soul’s originals transcendental faith is in Krishna. In loving and serving Him. When soul is in material world it is covered by subtle body which shapes perception and action of the soul. So our current faith is situated in our subtle body depending on how our subtle body is situated in goodness, passion or ignorance. This faith will gradually evolve and as we move upwards as we become purified.

End of transcription.