aśraddhayā hutaṅ dattaṅ tapastaptaṅ kṛtaṅ ca yat.
asadityucyatē pārtha na ca tatprētya nō iha৷৷17.28৷৷
श्रीमद् भगवद्गीता
17.28 aśraddhayā without faith, hutam is sacrificed, dattam given, tapaḥ austerity, taptam is practised, kṛtam performed, ca and, yat whatever, asat Asat, iti thus, ucyatē is called, pārtha O Partha, na not, ca and, tat that, prētya hereafter (after death), na not, iha here.
Commentary:
Asat: That which changes form and has no permanent existence. It does not mean non-existence as such.Acts of sacrifice, austerity and gift that are performed without faith, under pressure, or to prevent some sort of trouble or to gratify a craving, are Asat in their nature. They yield no permanent benefit or fruit to anybody.Any sacrifice, austerity or gift done without dedicating it to the Lord will be of no avail to the doer in this earthly life here or in the life beyond hereafter. It would be as useless as showers of rain falling on rocky ground or pouring oblations of ghee (clarified butter) on cold ashes. If you have no faith you will become egoistic and obstinate. Your heart will become hard. If you perform even hundreds of sacrifices without faith, without the spirit of self-surrender to the Lord, even if you distribute the wealth of the whole world in charity without faith in and devotion to the Lord, all these would be worthless and useless. The sages will not appreciate such sacrifices or gifts. Energy, money and time are simply wasted.Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious hagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the seventeenth discourse entitled:The Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith. ,