Let us now reflect a little upon its meaning.
1.Om
tasmādomityudāhṛtya yajñadānatapaḥkriyāḥ |
pravartante vidhānoktāḥ satatam brahmavādinām ||BG 17.24
"The votaries of Brahma perform yajña, dāna and tapas after uttering Om".
Arjuna now asks
ye śāstravidhimutsṛjya yajante śraddhāyānvitāh ।
teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvamāho rājastamah ॥BG 17.1
Some people in the world possess śraddhā, but not in the rules of the śāstra but in something else imagined by themselves. What happens to them?
There are four kinds of activities of the buddhi. The first is analysis which means separating the object of inquiry into its constituent elements. The second is classification which is grouping the various components and properties of the object of inquiry. The third is causality which is identifying the cause-effect relationship as well as the estimation of the amount of a certain substance needed to achieve a specific effect.
Whatever comes next is the crux of the kaṭhopaniṣat. This is where Naciketas asked Yama to answer his question. His question surprised Yama. Not willing to answer that, he tried to convince Naciketas to ask something else as vara. He tries to entice him with different gifts. Naciketas doesn’t budge, he adamantly states that if he wants to give a vara he should answer his question. He ties up Yama with his own words and makes him give away the answer. The conversation between them is intriguing.
śraddhèyoḻamirpudu trai-
vidhyaṃ prakṛtijaguṇatrayāgatamadariṃ |
buddhi samaṃtoṃtatsad-
baddhamiral śraddhèyaduve saṃsiddhikaram ||
There are three kinds of śraddhā,
arising from the guṇa-triad born of prakṛti.
When buddhi is completely restrained by
Om, Tat, Sat, śraddhā gives rise to perfection.
Therefore, it does not mean that belief in śāstra means that the buddhi is going to stop working. In the sixth chapter, Bhagavān himself has explained how important the buddhi is.
buddhi-grāhyam atīndriyam ॥
The nature of the ātmā is beyond the senses and the manas. The Upaniṣat says —
yanmanasā na manute yenāhur-mano matam ॥
Kenopaniṣat
It is not possible for ordinary people to know the path of dharma by their own judgment, without the guidance of Śruti and Smṛti. Their knowledge is limited; the capability of their buddhi is sparse; their nature is fallible, owing to kāma, krodha and lobha; therefore instruction and guidance from ancestors and traditions followed by older and experienced people becomes the basis for performing dharma. They show us the highway of dharma.