Material Nature & Embodied Soul
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said in Gita 17.2 “tri-vidha bhavati sraddha dehinam sa sva-bhava-ja/sattviki rajasi ca-eva tamasi ca-iti tam srnu” According to the modes of nature acquired by the embodied soul, one’s faith can be of three kinds – in goodness, in passion or in ignorance.
Those who know the rules and regulations of the scriptures but out of laziness or indolence give up following these rules and regulations are governed by the modes of material nature. According to their previous activities in the mode of (i) Goodness, (ii) passion or (iii) ignorance, they acquire a nature which is of a specific quality
The association of the living entity with the different modes of nature has been going on perpetually; since the living entity is in contact with material nature, he acquires different types of mentality according to his association with the material modes. But this nature can be changed if one associates with a bona fide spiritual master and abides by his rules and the scriptures. Gradually, one can change his position from ignorance to goodness, or from passion to goodness. The conclusion is that blind faith in a particular mode of nature can not help a person become elevated to the perfectional stage. One has to consider things carefully, with intelligence, in the association of a bonafide spiritual master. Thus one can change his position to a higher mode of nature.
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.
Men in the mode of goodness (sattvikah) worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion (Rajashik) worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance (Tamashik) worship ghosts and spirits.
According to scriptural injunction, only the Supreme Personality of
Godhead is worship-able, but those who are not conversant with, or faithful to, the scriptural injunctions worship different objects, according to their specific situations in the modes of material nature. Those who are situated in goodness generally worship various demigods for various purpose. Similarly, those who are in the mode of passion worship the demons. We may recall that during the IInd World War a man in Calcutta worshiped Hitler because thanks to that war he had amassed a large amount of wealth by dealing in the black market. Similarly, those in the modes of passion and ignorance general select a powerful man to be God. They think that anyone can be worshiped as God and that the same results will be obtained.
Now, it is clearly described here that those who are in the made of passion worship and create such gods, and those who are in the mode of ignorance, in darkness, worship dead spirits. Sometimes people worship at the tomb of some dead man. Sexual service is also considered to be in the mode of darkness. Similarly, in remove villages in India there are worshipers of ghosts. We have seen that in India the lower-class people sometimes go to the forest, and if they have knowledge that a ghost lives in a tree, they worship that three and offer sacrifices. These different kinds of worship are not actually God worship. God worship is for persons who are transcendentally situated in pure goodness. Those who are completely purified of the material modes of nature and who are transcendentally situated can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
