Bhagavatgita a detailed study Chapter16 The Divine and Demoniac attrbutes

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16.anekachittha

vibhraanthaa mohajaalasamaavrthaaH

 

prasakthaah kaamabhogeshu pathanthi narake

aSuchou

 

Thus with their minds roaming around in various

ways, caught in the net of delusion, intent on sensual pleasures, they fall

into terrible hell.

 

The picture of one who is filled with self conceit

mentioned in the previous sloka is further described here. One who is arrogant

of this wealth and considers himself to be

superior, even if he seems to be engaged in the good acts like performing

yajnas or giving for charity, he never gets the fruit of these as he is doing

them ostentatiously without any real good intention. Such people are

filled with various thoughts towards

sense gratification and their ego which is the effect of their ignorance trap

them in the net of delusion that only what they are doing is the right thing

and they look down on others due to their arrogance. Such people will never get

the merit of their doing the good deed but will only fall in a terrible hell,

says Krishna.

 

The reason is further elucidated in the next sloka.

 

 

17.

aathmasambhaavithaa sthabDhaaH

DhanamaanamadhaanvithaaH

 

Yajanthe naamayajnaiH the dhambhena

aviDhipoorvakam

 

Those who are self- conceited and stubborn, arrogant of wealth and power,

perform yajnas only in a name, with ostentation and against the rules.

 

The yajna mentioned here is thamasik which is

described in the next chapter. The import here is that those with aasurik

impulses even when they indulge in the vedic rites like yajna, it is only to

show off their wealth and power and done without the necessary sanctity as they

do not respect the rules or the elders who know them and also they show no

regard to the priests who do it for them treating them only as paid servants.

They do not have respect for anyone except themselves, aathamasambhaavana.

Filled with pride and arrogant of their wealth they do not listen to anyone who

may try to advise them and remain obstinate, sthabDhaaH. Hence whatever

they do whether it is vedic rites or work for the society, they do it only for

publicity and do not get the result of the act because it is not done in the

spirit of yajna.

 

 

18.ahamkaaram

balam dharpam kaamam kroDham cha

samSrithaaH

 

maam

aathmaparadheheshu pradhvishanthaH

abhyasooyakaaH

 

Due to ego, power and arrogance, filled with desire

and anger, they are hostile towards Me in their own bodies and in others.

 

When a man is arrogant and selfish he would not

listen to reason and would hate the advice of those who tell him about dharma

and God. The words of Vibheeshana on dharma was like poison to Ravana and so was the advice of Prahladha to

Hiranyakasipu.

 

Those who do not heed dharma are the enemies of the

Lord. They do not want to accept God and the values because to do so makes them

feel guilty about their conduct and like an ostrich they bury themselves in

their own ignorance and delusion and as a consequence they hate God and His

followers. Krishna says they hate me in their

body, meaning , the Lord is their inner self and they turn a blind eye to Him

and hence they are neither friendly towards

other beings, in whom God is present. The implication is that to be inimical

towards other being is like hating the Lord who is inside one as well as inside

others.

 

 

19.thaan

aham dhvishathaH krooraan samsaareshu

naraaDhamaan

 

 

ksshipaami ajasram aSubhaan aasureeshveva

yonishu

 

I push them, who are hostile, cruel , worst among

men and evil doers, into samsaara again and again to be born in the wombs of the demoniac only.

 

Those mentioned

above are born only in the aasurik wombs repeatedly going through

several births till their evil tendencies are exhausted.

 

Krishna says that he pushes them into asura yonis,

which does not mean that the Lord is partial and punishes them because they are

against Him but as the karmaphaladhatha He gives them the fruit of their karma,

and they have themselves to blame for their destiny.

 

20.aasureem

yonim aapannaa mooDaa janmani janmani

 

maamapraapyaiva kountheya thathaH yaanthi

aDhamaam

gathim

 

Reaching the demoniac wombs these ignorant souls

life after life descend into lowest state without attaining Me.

 

This is only to warn against pursuing in the aasuric tendencies because there is no eternity of damnation to the

souls in our philosophy. If a cloth gets dirty it has to be washed till it

becomes clean and the process of doing it may range from easy to hard methods

depending on the amount of dirt. Some have to be beaten and squeezed many

times. So too the wicked have to go through the process of cleaning many times

till they are free of impurities, which may look like eternity. Krishna says next how to ward off such state and climb up

the ladder of spirituality.

 

The description of hell in the puranas are only to

caution men against pursuing evil way of life. The hell may be present in any

manner in any embodiment as it is only a realm of experience. People who do not

believe the description of hell in the puranas say that it is all cock and bull

story and there is no hell or heaven as

well as an after life. But the real self is pure and the realization of its

original state is the natural culmination of everyone. So the hell is provided

by one's own self which is trying to regain its original state of purity.

 

This is what is meant by the declaration that

follows.

 

21.thriviDham

narakasya idham dhvaaram naasanam

aathmanaH

 

kaamaH kroDhaH thaThaa lobhaH thasmaath

ethath thrayam

thyajeth

 

There are three gates to hell, namely, desire, anger

and avarice, which will ruin the self. Hence these three should be given up.

 

The desire, kaama was described as the

greatest enemy of man in chapter3. Krodha , anger was coupled with Kama and termed as jnanavijnaana naaSanam,

destroyer of knowledge and realization. This is the ruin of the self because

the self is eternal and cannot be destroyed. Krodha and lobha are the natural

consequents to kama. Therefore these three

must be eradicated. This is the answer to the probable question whether those

with aasurik tendencies are damned eternally.

 

22.ethaIh

vimukthaH kountheya thamodhvaaraiH

thribhiH

naraH

 

aacharathi aathmanaH SreyaH thathaH

yaathi paraam

gathim

 

Oh son of Kunthi, freed from these three which lead

to darkness of ignorance and evil, one follows the path of glory and attains

the Supreme state.

 

How to get freed from these gateways to darkness?

Only refuge is the sasthras because,

 

 

23.

yaH SaasThraviDhim uthsrjya varthathe

kaama kaarakaH

 

Na sa sidDhim avaapnothi na sukham na

paraam gathim

 

One who does not heed the rules of the sastras and

acts as he likes will not attain salvation and he neither gets happiness in

this world nor reaches the supreme state.

 

 

24.thasmaath

Saasthram pramaaNam the

kaaryaakaaryavyavasThithou

 

jnaathvaa SaasthraviDhaanoktham karma

karthum iha

arhasi

 

To know what is to be done and what should not be

done the sasthra is the only valid means of knowledge for you. Therefore

knowing this you perform the acts enjoined in the sasthras.

 

Here the stress is not to know the sastras

alone which most people do but to live according to the instructions. The

way to do this has been detailed in the

earlier chapters on karmayoga and bhakthi yoga.

 

 

Thus

ends the chapter 16 , The Divine and Demoniac attributes.