In the Bhagavad Gita one whole chapter — Chapter 17 — is dedicated to expounding the types of shraddha and their implications. It starts with Arjuna’s question to Sri Krishna about the faith of those who, without following scriptural injunctions, offer sacrifices with faith. What is the nature of their faith? Is it sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic? Sri Krishna answers:
The shraddha of the embodied beings, born of their own
nature, is threefold — born of sattva, rajas, and tamas. Hear about it. O scion
of the Bharata dynasty, the faith of all beings is in accordance with their
minds. This person is made up of faith as the dominant factor. He is verily
what his shraddha is. (Bhagavad Gita, 17.2–3.)
A person’s shraddha is in accordance with his or her
temperament; one is verily what one’s shraddha is!
The rest of the chapter explains the functions of these
three types of shraddha:
The Shraddha of embodied beings is three-fold. It is born of
individual svabhava or the latent disposition of man; it is not imposed from
outside. It is produced by the tendencies (samskaras) that are the result of
his actions in previous life or lives. Under the influence of these tendencies
the individual is dominated by one or the other of the gunas of prakriti. Thus,
according to the respective individual qualities, Shraddha is either sattvik, rajas
or tamas. And the actions of individuals reveal corresponding characteristics.
For example, if sattva guna is predominant in a man, he has sattviki
Shraddha, he is pure and altruistic. He aspires after salvation. If rajas is
predominant, he has rajasi Shraddha and he runs after inferior pleasures and
works for limited and selfish goals. If tamas is predominant, he has tamasi Shraddha,
a tamasa man has no idea of a definite spiritual goal nor does he feel the need
for resorting to any prescribed means. Tamasi Shraddha is actually the negation
of Shraddha.
Sattvic shraddha is spiritual, rajasic shraddha is present
in the performance of karma, and tamasic shraddha is unrighteous. These three
types of shraddha are in the domain of the gunas. Apart from these, there
exists nirguna shraddha, which is faith in service to God. (Bhagavata, 11.25.27.)
Source – excerpts from article titled ‘Shraddha’
by Swami Utsargananda published in Prabuddha Bharata January 2010 issue.