Bhagavān means the ultimate. Just like in some country there is Supreme Court. So when the judgment is given by the Supreme Court, that is final. And when it was monarchy, the order given by the king, that is final—no more questioning. Similarly, when it is mentioned śrī bhagavān uvāca, that means it is final. No more argument, no more logic. Logic is there, argument is there, but it is final. No waste of time anymore. What Bhagavān says, that is called paramparā. The first utterances, order, or statement, or judgment, is given by the Supreme Lord, and if that is followed through the disciplic chain, that is real understanding, real knowledge.
You . . . we are . . . first of all we are very minute part and parcel of Bhagavān. Mamaivāṁśaḥ. So, according to our position, we have got our knowledge, we have got our understanding, proportionately. Just like fire, big fire and a small spot fire. Both of them are fire, but you cannot compare the small fragment of fire with the big fire. That is not possible. The big ocean and a small drop of water from the ocean . . . because the taste of the small drop of ocean is the same, the Māyāvādī philosophers, they conclude that, "I am the same." But they have no common sense that the small drop of water, although the quality is the same, it is very small. So our knowledge is therefore imperfect. Although we are qualitatively one with God, still, being very small quantity, our power, our knowledge, our understanding—everything—is proportionately small. You must first of all understand that, that we are simultaneously one and different. One means qualitatively one. A small particle of gold, you can call it gold, but it is not the gold mine. This is called dvaita-vāda, advaita-vāda. The rascals, they think, "Because I am gold, I am as good as the gold mine." No. That is not. Gold mine is very big, powerful, immense value. So we should not forget this.
Therefore it is said . . . now, tri-vidhā bhavati śraddhā: "This śraddhā, this faith," Kṛṣṇa says: "there are three kinds." Tri-vidhā bhavati śraddhā. Tri-vidhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṁ sā svabhāva-jā. Dehinām. Always remember, dehinām means the possessor, the owner of this body. Therefore the owner is different from the body. Those who are under the conception that there is no owner, and the body is everything, they are less than tamo-guṇa. Actually animals. They have been described as being animal. Those who are thinking like the dog that, "I am this body . . ." The dog is also thinking, "I am this body," and a man is also thinking, "I am this body." Then where is the difference between the dog and the man? When man comes to the understanding that, "I am not this body; I am soul," then knowledge begins. Before that, he is ignorant like animal. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13).
Now, to come to the real knowledge, real platform of knowledge, the cultivation is required. So cultivation is required. Suppose somebody has said, the same example, that there is fire in the wood. So if you simply remain satisfied with the wood—"There is fire"—that is called tamo-guṇa, not developed. Again, when there is smoke, that is another platform. But when one appreciates the flames of, that is sattva-guṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says here, tri-vidhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṁ sā svabhāva-jā. If one is cultivating his life like hogs and cats and dogs—the behavior is also like that and remaining in that position—so his faith and one who is advanced, who is worshiping Deity, and having three times bath, and chanting mantras, Hare Kṛṣṇa, they are not equal. That is not possible, because one is situated in the sattva-guṇa and the other is situated in tamo-guṇa, although the tamo-guṇas, the persons who are in the darkness of knowledge, they have got their faith. It is not that they have no faith. They have got faith. But that faith is in the lowest status of life. That faith will not help him for spiritual realization. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, tri-vidhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṁ sā svabhāva-jā. Svabhāva-jā means natural. Because his body is not yet purified, therefore he remains in the status of tamo-guṇa, or ignorance. Tri-vidhā bhavati śraddhā dehināṁ sā svabhāva-jā.
Therefore we have to change. Just like a man diseased, he can be changed into a healthy person provided it follows the medical rules and regulation, takes medicine, diet and . . . that is possible. So if one does not follow the regulation, rules and regulation, he remains there, diseased. It is not that, that "We have become now free. We can talk nonsensically and we can behave like nonsense. Still, we are advanced." That is not possible. Sāttvikī rājasī caiva tāmasī ceti tāṁ śṛṇu. How? What are the symptoms to know that one is situated in the sattva-guṇa or one is situated in the rajo-guṇa or one is situated in tamo-guṇa? By the symptoms. The symptoms are also mentioned. The sattva-guṇa means brāhmaṇa. Sattva-guṇa in brāhmaṇa, their symptoms are mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā. Everything is there, characteristic. You have to test it. Just like in the . . . (indistinct) . . . chemistry there is analytical study, whether it is pure or not. So every chemical has got characteristics—its color, its formation, its taste, so many things. Those who are chemists, they know how to test. So when the characteristic and the test of the chemical is found as "Yes, it is according to the standard," then it is accepted as a pure chemical, and it can be used for the purpose. And if it is adulterated . . . everything . . . we are cooking food. If the ghee is pure, then taste is different. If the ghee is impure, the taste is different. And if it is not ghee at all, oil, the taste is different. It is like that.