Gitopadesh Presentation
THEME 5

In the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16, Krishna outlines the distinct characteristics of a "divine" nature (daivi sampat) and a "demonic" nature (asuri sampat), essentially contrasting the qualities of a person who lives with spiritual awareness and one who is dominated by ego, lust, and anger, emphasizing that choosing to cultivate divine qualities leads to liberation while embracing demonic traits results in self-destruction and suffering in the cycle of rebirth.

Key points of Chapter 16: 

• Divine qualities: Krishna lists positive traits like fearlessness, purity of mind, steadfastness in knowledge, charity, self-control, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity, truthfulness, and non-violence as characteristics of a divine nature.

• Demonic qualities: Conversely, Krishna describes negative traits like hypocrisy, arrogance, self-conceit, anger, harshness, ignorance, greed, lust, and envy as qualities of a demonic nature.

• Consequences of choices: The chapter highlights that individuals who indulge in demonic qualities will be trapped in the cycle of rebirth and suffer due to their actions, while those who cultivate divine qualities will progress towards spiritual liberation. 

• Importance of self-awareness: Krishna emphasizes the need for self-reflection to identify and overcome our own demonic tendencies, actively choosing to cultivate divine qualities instead. 

Sloka -3 (Chapter 16.5)

The effects of the two natures – ‘the divinely good’ and the ‘diabolically fallen’ – are spoken of as follows – 

दैवी सम्पद्विमोक्षाय निबन्धायासुरी मता।

मा शुचः सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातोऽसि पाण्डव॥ ५॥ 

daivī sampad-vimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā,

mā śucaḥ sampadaṁ daivīm-abhijāto’si pāṇḍava. (5) 

दैवी - divine; सम्पत् - estate; विमोक्षाय - for Liberation; निबन्धाय - for bondage; आसुरी - the demoniac; मता - is deemed; मा - not; शुचः - grieve; सम्पदम् - estate; दैवीम् - divine; अभिजातः - born for; असि - you are; पाण्डव - O! Pāṇḍava

5. The divine nature is deemed for Liberation, the demoniacal for bondage; grieve not, O Pāṇḍava! you are born with divine qualities. 

Audio File a link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12QiWRRu0vrOV3dt1eMggLprBiuWywkX7/view?usp=sharing

On hearing such an exhaustive enumeration of the qualities in the good and the bad hearts, it will be natural for every sincere student of the Gītā to feel subjectively a despair not knowing whether he himself belongs to the latter or the former category. Generally, one would find it easier to consider oneself bad rather than feel the confidence that one belongs to the good. Arjuna must have felt the same despair and, perhaps, reading this in his face, Kṛṣṇa consoled him, ‘Grieve not, O Pāṇḍava! you are born of the divine estate’. That a seeker has the necessary interest and perseverance to read the Gītā up to this chapter, itself shows that he belongs to the divinely good category! Both the ethical beauties and the non ethical ugliness are painted here not for the purpose of sending the good to an eternal heaven and damning the vicious to a perpetual hell! Here, the theme is taken up on a more scientific basis. Ethical virtues are the intelligent ways of focussing man’s understanding and reviving his exhausted energies and fatigued spirit to live. By living these healthy values of a righteous life, the individual unshackles his psychological personality from its self-made entanglements – ‘The divine estate leads to release’.

As a contrast to this, the negative tendencies cultivated by the diabolically fallen are self-made shackles that chain a man to a realm of confusions and sorrows, forbidding him to grow into the ampler fields of his own inner possibility – ‘The devilish to bondage’. Grieve not (Mā śuca) – To become sentimental and desperate or to exhaust oneself in self-pity or self-condemnation, is a psychological malady, and one suffering from it, can never discover in oneself, the energising cheer, the sustaining confidence and the steady will that are required for an intelligent self-diagnosis and an effective self cure. To a seeker, living the ethical values is itself a kind of treatment to cure him of some of his personality diseases. To the Hindus, a sinner is not a dangerous mental leper or a failure of the omnipotent Lord. To a Vedāntin, satan is not an equally powerful and a perpetual challenge to God. The good contaminated by weakness and ignorance is evil. And the evil when cured of ignorance itself becomes the good. A looking glass covered with dust cannot reflect the light of the world and truly show the objects in front of it. This is not because the glass has lost its capacity to reflect, but because its effectiveness has got veiled at present by the accumulated dust, which is essentially something other than the glass. To wipe it off clean is to bring forth from it more clarity and light for the reflection. A diabolically fallen one has also the same

infinite light of pure wisdom, but alas, extremely dimmed by false values and wrong concepts in his bosom.

Chinmayananda, Swami. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 16/17 (p. 29). Central Chinmaya Mission Trust. Kindle Edition. 

More Commentary on this verse at the link below

https://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/srimad?show_mool=1&scsh=1&scram=1&etsiva=1&etgb=1&setgb=1&etradi=1&&language=dv&field_chapter_value=16&field_nsutra_value=5

https://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-16-03.html

Sloka -4 (Chapter 16.1)

श्रीभगवानुवाच 

अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः।

दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम्॥ १॥ 

śrībhagavānuvāca 

abhayaṁ satva-saṁśuddhir-jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ,

dānaṁ damaśca yajñaśca svādhyāyastapa ārjavam. (1)

अभयम् - fearlessness; सत्त्वसंशुद्धिः - purity of heart; ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः - steadfastness in the yoga of Knowledge; दानम् - almsgiving; दमः - control of the senses; च - and; यज्ञ - sacrifice; च - and; स्वाध्यायः - study of the śāstras; तपः - austerity; आर्जवम् - straightforwardness 

1. The Blessed Lord said, ‘Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in the yoga of Knowledge, almsgiving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of the śāstras, austerity and straightforwardness.’

Audio File a link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SRmLZGbvYv9eM8gR2pR6E2Jp0JhrUqbR/view?usp=sharing

 As we read the opening verse we are reminded of the twenty values of life, that were described earlier by Lord Kṛṣṇa in his divine discourse Gītā chapter 13.8-12. Herein we find an almost exhaustive list of the noble traits in a cultured man living the spiritual way of life; a life wherein he accepts and lives those twenty values of life, when meeting his day-to-day world. And in the enumeration of these qualities, fearlessness (abhayaṁ) comes first. Fear is generated in one, only when one is in a field which is clouded by one’s ignorance. Fear is the expression of avidyā. Where there is Knowledge there is fearlessness. By placing this quality of fearlessness at the head of the list, with the unsung music of sheer suggestiveness, the divine Ᾱcārya is indicating that true ethical perfection in one, is directly proportional to the spiritual evolution attained by the individual. Purity of heart (Sattvasaṁśuddhiḥ) – No amount of external discipline can supply the student the positive dynamism that is the very core in all moral living. The Gītā invariably preaches a dynamic religion, militant in both theory and practice. The divine charioteer is not satisfied by a tame generation of passive goodness. He wants the members of the perfect Hindu society not only to live among themselves the highest values of life, but also to burst forth with the positive glow of righteousness and bathe the entire generation of men with the light of Truth and virtue – virtue that implies the honesty of intentions and purity of motives.

Steadfastness in devotion to Knowledge (Jñānayogavyavasthitiḥ) – This ethical purity at the level of the heart cannot be brought about when the human mind is turned outward on to the flesh. Only when the mind is constantly in unison with the infinite song of the soul, can it discover in itself the necessary courage to renounce its low appetites, clinging attachments and the consequent foul motives gurgling from within itself. Devotion to Knowledge (jñāna-yoga) is thus the positive way to persuade the mind to leave all its low temptations. When a child is playing with a delicate glass curio, to save the precious object, the parents generally offer him a piece of chocolate, and the little child anxious to get the chocolate, drops the precious thing down. Similarly, a mind that is awakened to the serener joys of the Self will naturally never cling on to the sensuous objects and their filthy joys. Charity, restraint of senses and sacrifice (Dānaṁ Damaśca Yajñaśca)– These three are now the techniques by which an individual successfully tunes up his inner instruments of knowledge in order to discover the required amount of ‘steady devotion to Knowledge’. Charity must come from one’s own sense of abundance. Charity springs only from a sense of oneness in us – oneness between the giver and the recipient. Unless one is able to identify oneself with others, one will not feel this noble urge to share all that one has with others who do not have it. Thus, dāna is born out of a capacity to restrain one’s instincts of acquisition and aggrandisement, and to replace them with the spirit of sacrifice, and it consists in sharing with others the objects of the world that one possesses.1 If charity develops in one the capacity to detach oneself from the wealth that one possesses and share it with others who are poorer, then we can say that control of the sense organs (dama) is the application of the same spirit of sacrifice in one’s personal life. To give a complete licence for indulgence to the sense organs, is to waste unproductively, the total human vitality. To economise in the expenditure of energy through the sense organs in the fields of sense objects is to discover an extra amount of untapped energy within ourselves. This energy can be made use of as the motive power behind the mind and intellect that is set on a flight to the higher realms of meditation. To keep the mind tuned up to the Self, a subtle energy is called forth, and it will be discovered within ourselves when we control our sense indulgence. Without dama and dāna the pilgrimage to Truth is merely a dream. Sacrifice (Yajña) – In the Vaidika period, sacrifice (yajña) was the day-to-day devotional ritualism that the average man of spiritual seeking diligently practised. Without this regular prayer-cum-pūjā, which is the substitute for yajña available for us now, control of the sense organs will be impossible, and without this control, the spirit of charity cannot come. In the absence of both dāna and dama, spiritual experience of the Self, the recognition of the Divine within us is impossible. It is interesting to note that each subsequent term in this list is logically connected with the one indicated immediately before. Study of the scriptures (Svādhyāya) – Traditionally, this term indicates regular study of the scriptures. Study of scriptural literature daily, in measured quantities, will provide the necessary inspiration to live the divine life in our day-to-day existence. But, scriptural study is indicated here by a very significant term2, which in Sanskrit suggests that the study of the scriptures should not be merely an intellectual appreciation, but as the student reads the textbooks, he must be able to simultaneously observe, analyse and realise the truth of what he is studying within his own life. Regular studies, coupled with regular practice (yajña), will give us the courage to live in self-control of the sense organs, which in its turn will supply us with steadiness in meditation for realising the Highest. Asceticism (Tapa) – All conscious self-denials at the body level, whereby an individual reduces his indulgences in the world outside, gains more and more energy within himself, and applies the new-found energy for the purpose of self-development, are called tapas. Uprightness (Ᾱrjavam) – Crookedness in thought, emotion and general conduct has a self-destructive influence upon our personality. Actions belying one’s own true intentions and motives, convictions and aspirations, realisation and discrimination will result in the crookedness of one’s personality. He who is indulging in this way of life will thereby develop in himself a split personality and will soon lose the glow of efficiency and be impoverished in the powers of personal grit as an individual. In short, in this very opening verse of the chapter, while enumerating the qualities of a divinely good man, we find an irresistible sense of scientific connection between each of the enumerated items. Ethical values and moral beauties described in Hinduism are not arbitrary declarations of an imaginative saint or a melancholy Prophet. They are built on the rocky foundations of reason and experience. Sincerely pursued and consciously lived, they contribute to a better expression of the diviner possibilities in man which generally lie dormant. Ethics in India are not by themselves a passport to heaven, but it is a preparation for a fuller unfoldment of the divine contents in the bosom of man. 

1 This does not mean that we are to exclude charity at the level of heart and head. In fact to share with others our sympathy and kindness and to distribute one's knowledge are considered by our Smṛtis as great charities (vidyā-dāna and so on)

2 svādhyāya – sva + adhyayana – self-study.

More Commentary on this verse at the link below

https://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/srimad?show_mool=1&scsh=1&scram=1&etsiva=1&etgb=1&setgb=1&etradi=1&&language=dv&field_chapter_value=16&field_nsutra_value=1

https://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-16-01.html

Sloka -5 (Chapter 16.2)

Moreover, continuing here Lord Kṛṣṇa enumerates the mental contents of the Godly type of man – 

अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम्। 

दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम्॥ २॥ 

ahiṁsā satyam-akrodhas-tyāgaḥ śāntir-apaiśunam, 

dayā bhūteṣvaloluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīr-acāpalam. (2)

अहिंसा - harmlessness; सत्यम् - truth; अक्रोधः - absence of anger; त्यागः - renunciation; शान्तिः - peacefulness; अपैशुनम् - absence of crookedness; दया - compassion; भूतेषु - beings; अलोलुप्त्वं - uncovetousness; मार्दवम् - gentleness; ह्रीः - modesty; अचापलम् - absence of fickleness 

2. Harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion to beings, uncovetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness ...

Audio File a link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MOuCePNBdzvCVSaBQ9BH8G4m1USdIYEK/view?usp=sharing

 Harmlessness (Ahiṁsā) – It does not consist so much in not causing bodily injury to beings in the physical world, as not harming any living creature in the world around from the realm of thought. Physical ahiṁsā is simply impossible. To continue living, some kind of physical harm or the other has to be brought about; it is unavoidable. But even while bringing about unavoidable disturbances around ourselves, if our motives are pure and clean, the harm so wrought about is not regarded as causing injury. Truth (Satyam) – We have already discussed this virtue while explaining the last term in the previous verse ‘uprightness’. An even temper (Akrodha) – Sometimes it is rendered as ‘angerlessness’ which is not very happy. A better rendering would be the capacity to check, at the right time, waves of anger as they mount up in our bosom, so that we do not manifest anger in our actions. It will be almost unnatural to expect the mind to become incapable of anger. But no emotion should be allowed to overwhelm us to such a degree as we are rendered almost impotent by it. This anger arises out of an insufferable impatience with others.1 In short, akrodha does not mean ‘without anger’ but only ‘keeping, as far as possible, an even temper’. Spirit of renunciation (Tyāga) – In this verse also we find, as we noticed in the previous verse, that there is a sequential order strictly followed in the development of thought from term to term. Without reference to truth, we cannot live in the spirit of ahiṁsā, so also without the spirit of renunciation an even temper is but a vain hope.

Quietude (Śānti) – If a seeker is capable of living conscious of Truth, harming none, keeping an even temper, in a spirit of renunciation in spite of all disturbing environments and happenings around, then he is the one who shall come to experience peace and quietude in himself. Even in the midst of a stormy life and outrageous circumstances, such an individual can successfully keep his inward balance and intellectual poise. Unmalicious tongue (Apaiśunam) – The ugliness or beauty of the tongue is ordered by the personality behind it. A shattered entity will seek self-gratification in malicious scandal-mongering, and the soft, fleshy tongue can often become more devastating than the most destructive missile. A seeker who is trying to reach a fuller and more exhaustive self-expression should develop such an inward harmony that his speech should echo the fragrance of his soul. A speech with softness of tone, clarity of expression, honesty of conviction, power of bringing a clear picture in the listener’s mind with no veiled meaning, overflowing with sincerity, devotion and love becomes the very quality of the autobiography of the speaker’s personality. To develop, therefore, a habit of such speech would be unconsciously training many aspects in ourselves which are all necessary for the perfect disciplining of the inner equipments. Tenderness towards beings (Dayā bhūteṣu) – In the society in general, it is not reasonable for a seeker to expect that all will keep up to the ideal that he himself entertains. There will be imperfections around. But to recognise, in and through those imperfections, the infinite beauty of life expressed is the secret of enduring tenderness in all saints and sages. Love alone can discover an infinite amount of tenderness in us. Unless we train ourselves to see the beauty of life pulsating through even wretched hearts and ugly characters, we will fail to bring forth tenderness to sweeten life within and without. Uncovetousness (Aloluptvam) – In the subjective life, to live without covetousness means controlling our sense organs from extreme indulgence in sense enjoyments. An average man has got an endless thirst and an insatiable hunger for some indulgence. To remain in self-control without endless sense hunger is meant herein by the term uncovetousness. Gentleness and modesty (Mārdavaṁ hṛiḥ) – These are not so much the particular disciplines of the individual, as the resultant beauty and harmony which an individual brings forth as the fragrance of his culture, in his contacts with the world outside. These two qualities are best seen in one who has established himself in all the above-mentioned noble qualities. The conduct of such a disciplined man will be both gentle and modest.
Not unnecessarily moving the limbs (Acāpalam) – Restlessness of mind and unsteadiness of character are reflected in the physical movements of an intelligent person. The body shadows the condition of the mind. A constant restlessness, a sudden outburst of activity, an immodest shaking of the body and voluptuous tossing of the limbs are all noticed only in individuals who have not yet cultivated a steady character and a purposeful personality. These can be seen in a child and there they are even considered as enhancing its beauty. But as an individual grows, the beauty in him is in his mastery over himself as declared by his movements. Śaṅkara explains this as ‘not to speak or move hands and legs in vain’. This is an extension of the meaning of this very term, and thereby implies the promptitude and economy of all physical energy in any efficient activity. Unnecessarily exhausting the muscles with indecisive movements and thoughtless exertions are signs of weakness in the personality. Such individuals are extremely imaginative and miserably weak in their intellectual caliber and emotional vitality. To avoid such movements, therefore, is to cure many simple weaknesses at the various facets of any given personality. 

1 EspecialIy when they by their thought, word and deed come to injure our interest or insult our own self-evaluation of ourselves.

More Commentary on this verse at the link below

https://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/srimad?show_mool=1&scsh=1&scram=1&etsiva=1&etgb=1&setgb=1&etradi=1&&language=dv&field_chapter_value=16&field_nsutra_value=2

https://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-16-01.html

Sloka -6 (Chapter 16.3)

Moreover – 

तेजः क्षमा धृतिः शौचमद्रोहो नातिमानिता। 

भवन्ति सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातस्य भारत॥ ३॥ 

tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucam-adroho nātimānitā, 

bhavanti sampadaṁ daivīm-abhijātasya bhārata. (3) 

तेजः - vigour; क्षमा - forgiveness; धृतिः - fortitude; शौचम् - purity; अद्रोहः - absence of hatred; न - not; अतिमानिता - over pride; भवन्ति - belong; सम्पदम् - estate; दैवीम् - divine; अभिजातस्य - of the born; भारत - O! Bhārata 

3. Vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride – these belong to the one born for the divine estate, O Bhārata! 

Audio File a link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S6f_kqtv7QRPP88PbBkC3iaEwxbKgQdk/view?usp=sharing

Panting to paint vividly the nature of the heart of a man of divine state, Lord Kṛṣṇa lists with minimum strokes the mental attitude, the intellectual calibre and the spiritual glow in all men of divine temperament. Vigour or brilliant glow (Teja) – This is not a mere physical glow of complexion produced by good food and ample rest. Nor is it just an exterior beauty arising out of careful tending of the physical structure and planned nourishing of the pads of flesh around the sage. The glow of spirituality is not literally a painted glow around his head, glimmering as a ring of fire. The brilliance of his intellect, the twinkling joy in his eyes, the thrilling fragrance of peace around, the serene poise in his activities, the dalliance of his love for all, the light of joy that ever shines forth from the innermost depths of his being – these constitute the irresistible attraction of the personality of the sage, who, with abundant energy, serves all and discovers for himself a fulfilment in that service. Patience (Kṣamā) – The context in which the word is used here should increase the depth of its meaning. It is not merely a capacity to patiently live through some of the minor physical or mental inconvenience, remaining unaffected when insulted or injured by others. It is a subtle boldness that is shown by a man in facing the world around with an unruffled serenity even in the face of the most powerful opposition and equally provoking situations. Fortitude (Dhṛti) – When an individual daringly meets life he cannot expect, all the time, happy situations, favourable circumstances and a conducive arrangement of chances in his field of activity. Ordinarily, a weak man suddenly feels dejected and is tempted to leave his present field of work when it is only half done.

Thereby many lose their chances of achieving the Highest, and come to desert the field of action, almost at the moment when, perhaps, victory is round the corner! In order to stick to his guns, man needs a secret energy to nurture and nourish his exhausted and fatigued mental and intellectual morale, and this sacred energy welling up in his well integrated personality is ‘Fortitude’. The strength of faith, conviction of the goal, consistency of purpose, vivid perception of the ideal and a bold spirit of sacrifice cultivated diligently – all these form the source from which fortitude trickles down to remove exhaustion, fatigue, despair and so on. Purity (Śaucam) – The word indicates not only the inner purity – purity of thoughts and motives – but it also suggests the purity of environments, cleanliness of habits and personal belongings. As a result of an overemphasis on subjective purity, today, we find in our society, an utter neglect of external purity. Clean clothes and civic habits have both become rare in our society. Even the devotee class is unmindful about these, although our religion emphasises that purity and cleanliness are unavoidable disciplines for a seeker. Absence of hatred (Adroha) – Harmlessness (ahiṁsā) was a virtue explained in the previous verse. Here the same virtue is repeated not only for the purpose of emphasis but also to indicate a slightly different shade of meaning. The term here should mean not only absence of hatred but absence of even a vague desire to injure any living creature. Just as an individual will never have, even in his dream, any idea of injuring himself, a true seeker, in his recognition of the oneness in all living creatures, must come to feel that to injure anyone is to injure himself. Absence of over pride (Nātimānitā) – To leave off one’s exaggerated notions of high self honour is immediately to relieve oneself from thousands of avoidable excitements and responsibilities. Life is as light as a feather to one who has renounced his over exaggerated pride while to a Coriolanus life becomes a heavy cross, to be carried painfully, as it mercilessly cuts through the living flesh on his shoulders. The twenty-six qualities described above give us a complete picture of the nature of a man of ‘divine estate’. These qualities are enumerated to serve as a guide to all those who thirst to become ‘perfect’. To the extent we are able to reorganise our way of life and change our vision of the world around us on the above lines, to that extent we shall economise our energies that are often wasted in idle pursuits. To respect and live these twenty-six values of life completely is to assure ourselves of a right way of living.

More Commentary on this verse at the link below

https://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/srimad?show_mool=1&scsh=1&scram=1&etsiva=1&etgb=1&setgb=1&etradi=1&&language=dv&field_chapter_value=16&field_nsutra_value=3

https://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-16-01.html