17-3

सत्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत ।
श्रद्धामयो अयम् पुरुषो यो यत् श्रद्धः स एव सः ॥ ३ ॥

satvAnurUpA sarvasya zraddhA bhavati bhArata |
zraddhAmayo ayam puruSo yo yat zraddhaH sa eva saH || 3 ||

भारत [bhArata] Arjuna, सर्वस्य [sarvasya] each person’s श्रद्धा [zraddhA] focus सत्वानुरूपा भवति [satvAnurUpA bhavati] is according to the essence of his character. अयम् पुरुषः [ayam puruSaH] This person is श्रद्धामयः [zraddhAmayaH] defined by his focus. यः [yaH] Whoever यत् श्रद्धः [yat zraddhaH] has a focus, स एव सः [sa eva saH] he is that itself.

The ‘essence of character’ is the core of the body - the reason for the body’s existence. This core of our body shapes our focus. The core of our body is made from the three qualities . In this way, focus is born on a subject based on the qualities that make up the core of our body.

Here, the phrase ‘essence of character’ is used to represent our body along with its organs and the mind, as told before . We are ‘defined by our focus’ - our personality is a product of our focus.

We end up as a product of whatever our focus is. When we get focused on actions of virtue, their outcomes latch on to us. In this way, the ‘outcome of action’ - our experience after committing an action - comes primarily from our focus .

The Lord elaborates this very fact next: