BHAGVAD GITA
Chapter 16: Divine and Demonic
Qualities
Lord Krishna said: Fearlessness,
purity of heart, firmness in acquiring Self-knowledge, charity, sense control,
sacrifice, study of the scriptures, mind control, honesty; nonviolence,
truthfulness, absence of anger, samnyasa, calmness, abstaining from mean talk,
compassion for all creatures, freedom from greed, gentleness, humility, absence
of indecision; intelligence, forgiveness, courage, cleanliness, absence of
hatred, and absence of pride; these are the qualities of those endowed with
divine virtues, O Arjuna. (16.01-03)
Hypocrisy, arrogance, pride,
anger, harshness, and ignorance; these are the marks of those who are born with
demonic qualities. Divine qualities lead to nirvana, the demonic qualities are
said to be for rebirth. Do not grieve, O Arjuna, you are born with divine
qualities. (16.04-05)
There are two types of human
beings in this world: the divine, and the demonic. The divine has been
described at length, now hear from Me about the demonic, O Arjuna. (16.06)
Persons of demonic nature do not
know what to do and what not to do. They neither have purity nor good conduct
nor truthfulness. (16.07)
They say that the world is unreal,
without any support, without a God, and without an order. The world is caused
by Kama alone and nothing else. (16.08)
Holding such views, these lost
souls, with small intellect and cruel deeds, are born as enemies for the
destruction of the world. (16.09)
Filled with desires that are never
satisfied, hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance; holding wrong views due to confusion;
they act with impure motives. (16.10)
Such persons are troubled with
great anxiety until death, and consider sense pleasure as their highest aim and
everything. (16.11)
They are bound by hundreds of ties
of desire and enslaved by lust and anger. They strive to obtain wealth by
unlawful means for the fulfillment of material desires. (16.12)
They think: This has been gained
by me today, I shall fulfill this desire, this is mine and this wealth also
shall be mine in the future; (16.13)
That enemy has been slain by me,
and I shall slay others also. I am the Lord. I am the enjoyer. I am successful,
powerful, and happy; I am rich and born in a noble family. I am the greatest. I
shall perform sacrifice, I shall give charity, and I shall rejoice. They are misled
by ignorance. (16.14-15)
Mislead by many fancies; trapped
in the net of confusion; addicted to the enjoyment of sensual pleasures; they
fall into a foul hell. (16.16)
Arrogant, stubborn, filled with
pride and joy of wealth; they perform Yajna only in name, for show, and not
according to scriptural command. (16.17)
Attached to pride, power,
arrogance, lust, and anger; these malicious people hate Me, who dwells in their
own body and others' bodies. (16.18)
These haters, cruel, sinful, and
mean people of the world are thrown into the wombs of demons again and again.
(16.19)
O Arjuna, entering the wombs of
demons birth after birth, the ignorant ones sink to the lowest hell without
ever attaining Me. (16.20)
Lust, anger, and greed are the
three gates of hell leading to rebirth of Jeeva. Therefore, one must learn to
give up these three evils. (16.21)
One who is liberated from these
three gates of hell, does what is best and attains the supreme goal. (16.22)
One who acts under the influence
of their desires, disobeying scriptures, neither attains perfection nor
happiness nor the supreme goal. (16.23)
Therefore, let the scripture be
your guide in determining what should be done and what should not be done. One
should perform duty using scriptures as a guide. (16.24)
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