Bhagavatgita a detailed study Chapter16 The Divine and Demoniac attrbutes

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Bhagavatgita chapter16 Divine and Demoniac

qualities

 

In this chapter Krishna

enumerates the qualities that are the result of the three gunas divide into

divine and demoniac. This serves as a means of self analysis which helps us to

eradicate the qualities which bind man

to transmigratory existence and cultivate those qualities which effect in

the release from bondage.

 

First he starts with the divine qualities.

 

Sree bhagavan uvaacha

 

1.abhayam satthvasamSudDhih jnaanyogavyavasThithiH

 

dhaanam

dhamaScha yajnaScha svaaDhyaayaH thapa

aarjavam

The Lord said,

 

Fearlessness,

mental purity, persistence in the practice of knowledge, charity,

sense-control, sacrifice, study of scriptures, penance and uprightness,

 

2. ahimsaa sathyam akroDhaH thyaagaH SanthiH

apaiSunam

 

dhayaa

bhootheshu alolupyam maardhavam hreeH

achaapalam

Non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger,

renunciation, tranquility, absence of envy, kindness to all beings, non-covetousness,

gentleness, modesty and dignity,

 

 

3. thejaH kshamaa Dhrthih Soucham adhroho na

athimaanithaa

 

bhavanthi

sampadham dhaiveem abhijaathasya bhaaratha

 

 

Splendour,

patience, vigour, cleanliness, benevolence, absence of vanity, these qualities

pertain to one inheriting divine attributes.

 

1. Fearlessness,abhayam, denotes courage both

physical and moral. We fear only the unknown or something other than ourselves.

One is not afraid of himself. To the enlightened there is nothing other than

himself and hence no fear. But how can we still under the realm of ignorance

cultivate fearlessness. It is done by accepting what comes. When the fear of

death is conquered as elucidated in the second adhyaya, nothing else arouses

fear. When we give up desires there is nothing to be afraid of because the

desire in its wake brings the fear of losing what we acquire.

2.Mental purity. Soucham, comes out of

eradicating desire and anger which give rise to impure thoughts.

3. Persistence in the practice of knowledge means

applying the knowledge one gains out of spiritual discipline to one's life

persistently. This means not being a platform vedantin but a practical one.

4.Charity, dhaana, is giving away or sharing

according to one's resources. That is, to help others to the best of our

capacity.

5.Sense-control, dhama, is the external

discipline of the senses.

6.sacrifice, yajna, means the performance of

the rituals advocated by the Vedas and in modern times this means doing every

act with the spirit of yajna, or as an offering to god.

7.Study of scriptures, svaaDhyaaya, is

acquiring spiritual knowledge in order to get rid of the ignorance, the cause

of samsara.

8.Penance, thapah, is the austerity, which does not mean

tormenting the body because it then denotes demoniac qualities as outlined

later in the chapter but endurance of what ever happens treating it as a

penance.

9.Uprightness, aarjavam, is straight

forwardness in all your dealings.

10.Non-violence, ahimsa in word thought and

deed. Often we commit violence not physically but by word when we insult

someone or speak unkindly and by thought when we harbor hatred.

11.sathyam is honesty or truthfulness. This

alone will lead one to salvation as the supreme reality is sathyam. To be

honest is not merely desisting from lying but consists in being true to one

self and should be in accordance with

the other virtues. For instance one can be cruel by telling the truth,or

cause harm to others, which is not what is meant by sathyam here.

12.akrodhah- absence of anger.

13.thyaagah- renunciation, the kinds of which

is elaborated further in the 18th ahdyaya.

14.Shanthih- equanimity.

15.apaiSunam- paiSunam is belittling others due to envy and apaiSunam

is the absence of it.

16.dhayaa bhootheshu, kindness to all.

17.alolupthvam- absence of hankering after

sense objects.

18.maardhavam means gentleness or softness in

dealing with others, not being harsh.

19.hree is sense of shame in doing

wrong things and modesty.

20.achaapalam- refraining from useless

activities.

21.thejah- splendour arising out of practice

of these virtues.

22.Dhrthi is patience or fortitude.

23.Soucham- cleanliness both inside and

outside.

24.adhrohah can be translated as non-betrayal

of trust.

25. athimaanathaa is pride or arrogance and na

athimaanatha denotes the absence of it. These are the dhaiveesampath or

divine qualities.

 

Then Krishna

briefly mentions the asuric or demoniac qualities and elaborates on them a

little later.

 

Dhambho dharpo abhimaanaScha krodhah paarushyameva

cha

ajnaanam

cha abhijaathasya paarTha sampadham aasureem

 

Hypocrisy, arrogance, excessive vanity, anger,

harshness and ignorance denotes the inheritance of demoniac attributes.

 

Hypocrisy, dhambhah consists in

ostentation or pretentious display.

Dharpah,

is arrogance

due to wealth, power, beauty, knowledge etc.

abhimaanah is excessive vanity or ego.

Krodha is anger. and paarushyam

is harshness in speech.

 

5.dhaivaa

sampath vimokshaaya nibanDhaayaasureemathaa

 

maa Suchah sampadham dhaiveem abhijaatho asi paandava

 

These are the Asuree sampath, demoniac qualities,

says Krishna, which lead to bondage while the

dhaivee sampath secure release. You do not worry because you have inherited

dhaiveesampath only.

 

Perhaps Krishna

read consternation in the face of Arjuna indicating his doubt as to which class

he belonged to and in order to reassure him says " you do not worry because you

have inherited dhaiveesampath only."