Chapter 16: Divine and Demonic Natures

दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोग · 24 verses. Lord Shri Krishna continued: Fearlessness, clean living, unceasing concentration on wisdom, readiness to give, self-control, a spirit of sacrifice, regular study of the scriptures, austerity, candor,

16.1 Lord Shri Krishna continued: Fearlessness, clean living, unceasing concentration on wisdom, readiness to give, self-control, a spirit of sacrifice, regular study of the s…
16.2 Harmlessness, truth, absence of wrath, renunciation, contentment, straightforwardness, compassion towards all, uncovetousness, courtesy, modesty, and constancy.
16.3 Valor, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, freedom from hate and vanity—these are the qualities of one who possesses the divine, O Arjuna!
16.4 Hypocrisy, pride, insolence, cruelty, and ignorance belong to those born of godless qualities.
16.5 Godly qualities lead to liberation; godless ones lead to bondage. Do not be anxious, Prince! You have the Godly qualities.
16.6 No changes needed.
16.7 The godless do not know how to act or renounce; they lack both purity and truth. They do not understand the right principles of conduct.
16.8 They say the universe is an accident with no purpose and no God. Life is created through sexual union, a product of lust and nothing else.
16.9 Thinking thus, these degraded souls, these enemies of mankind—whose intelligence is negligible and whose deeds are monstrous—come into the world only to destroy.
16.10 Giving themselves up to insatiable passions, hypocritically, self-sufficiently, and arrogantly, cherishing false conceptions founded on delusion, they work only to carry …
16.11 Poring anxiously over evil resolutions that only end in death, seeking only the gratification of desire as the highest goal, and seeing nothing beyond—
16.12 Caught in the toils of a hundred vain hopes, enslaved by passion and wrath, they accumulate hoards of unjust wealth, only to indulge their sensual desires.
16.13 Today I have gained this; tomorrow I will fulfill another desire; this wealth is mine now, and the rest will soon be mine.
16.14 I have slain one enemy; I will slay the others too. I am worthy of enjoying; I am the Almighty, perfect, powerful, and happy.
16.15 I am wealthy, I am of noble birth; who can compare with me? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will pay—and I will enjoy. Thus blinded by ignorance,
16.16 Perplexed by discordant thoughts, entangled in the snares of desire, infatuated by passion, they sink into the depths of hell.
16.17 Self-conceited, stubborn, wealthy, proud, and insolent, they make a show of their patronage, disregarding the norms of propriety.
16.18 Puffed up by power and inordinate conceit, swayed by lust and wrath, these wicked people hate Me, Who am within them as I am within all.
16.19 Those who thus hate Me, who are cruel, the dregs of mankind, I condemn them to a continuous, miserable, and godless rebirth.
16.20 So, reborn, they spend life after life enveloped in delusion, and they never reach Me, O Prince, but degenerate into even lower forms of life.
16.21 The gates of hell are three: lust, wrath, and avarice; they destroy the Self, so avoid them.
16.22 These are the gates that lead to darkness; if one avoids them, they will ensure their own welfare and eventually attain liberation.
16.23 But he who neglects the commands of the scriptures and follows the promptings of passion does not attain perfection, happiness, or the final goal.
16.24 Therefore, whenever there is doubt as to whether you should do something or not, let the scriptures guide your conduct.

← Chapter 15 Chapter 17 →