Chapter 16: The Classification of the Divine and the Non Divine Attributes

📘 Editorial Note:

In this powerful and revealing discourse, Lord Krishna turns Arjuna’s attention inward—to the qualities that dwell within the hearts of all beings. Every soul carries within it the seeds of both light and darkness, and it is through conscious living and inner discipline that one chooses which qualities to nourish.

Krishna speaks of two distinct paths—one adorned with divine qualities (daivi sampad) and the other clouded by demoniac tendencies (asuri sampad). These paths lead souls to vastly different destinies.

Those of the divine nature embody traits such as fearlessness, truthfulness, compassion, self-control, humility, forgiveness, and a deep reverence for the scriptures and the sacred. Their lives are lived in harmony with the eternal dharma, aligned with higher principles, and rooted in devotion. Such souls gradually rise on the spiritual path, their hearts purified through righteous action, wisdom, and surrender. Their destiny is liberation—freedom from the cycle of birth and death, and union with the Divine.

In contrast, those who are governed by the demoniac nature are driven by arrogance, anger, hypocrisy, cruelty, and unrestrained desire. They live for the fleeting pleasures of the senses, denying the soul and ridiculing the path of dharma. For them, there is no higher truth, no accountability to the Supreme. Consumed by selfish ambition and false pride, they act according to their whims, heedless of sacred teachings or consequences.

Such souls, Krishna warns, descend into deeper material bondage, wandering through darker realms of existence, trapped in cycles of suffering and delusion. They may appear powerful or prosperous in the worldly sense, but inwardly they remain restless, insecure, and far from peace.

Lord Krishna does not condemn, but rather compassionately guides—urging all to recognize the battle between light and shadow within, and to choose the divine through disciplined living, humility, and reverence for truth. The Gita reminds us that our destiny is not fixed by birth or circumstance, but shaped by the qualities we cultivate and the choices we make.

Thus, in this chapter, the Lord becomes not just a divine teacher but a mirror—reflecting back to us the qualities we must nurture if we are to walk the path of liberation and eternal peace.

🔹 Original Chapter Text:

The Blessed Lord said:

SLOKA 1

Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga; almsgiving, control of the senses, Yajna, reading of the Shâstras, austerity, uprightness; 1

SLOKA 2

Non-injury, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, tranquillity, absence of calumny, compassion to beings, un-covetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness; 2

SLOKA 3

Boldness, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride; these belong to one born for a divine state, O descendant of Bharata.

SLOKA 4

Ostentation, arrogance and self-conceit, anger as also harshness and ignorance, belong to one who is born, O Pârtha, for an Asurika state. 4

SLOKA 5

The divine state is deemed to make for liberation, the Asurika for bondage; grieve not, O Pândava, thou art born for a divine state.

SLOKA 6

There are two types of beings in this world, the divine and the Asurika. The divine have been described at length; hear from Me, O Pârtha, of the Asurika.

SLOKA 7

The persons of Asurika nature know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither is purity found in them nor good conduct, nor truth. 7

SLOKA 8

They say, “The universe is without truth, without a (moral) basis, without a God, brought about by mutual union, with lust for its cause; what else?” 8

SLOKA 9

Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect and fierce deeds, rise as the enemies of the world for its destruction. 9

SLOKA 10

Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, holding evil ideas through delusion, they work with impure resolve.

SLOKA 11

Beset with immense cares ending only with death, regarding gratification of lust as the highest, and feeling sure that that is all; 11

SLOKA 12

Bound by a hundred ties of hope, given over to lust and wrath, they strive to secure by unjust means hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyment.

SLOKA 13

“This to-day has been gained by me; this desire I shall obtain; this is mine, and this wealth also shall be mine in future.

SLOKA 14

“That enemy has been slain by me, and others also shall I slay. I am the lord, I enjoy, I am successful, powerful and happy.

SLOKA 15

“I am rich and well-born. Who else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice.” Thus deluded by ignorance,

SLOKA 16

Bewildered by many a fancy, covered by the meshes of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall down into a foul hell.

SLOKA 17

Self-conceited, haughty, filled with the pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifices in name, out of ostentation, disregarding ordinance;

SLOKA 18

Possessed of egoism, power, insolence, lust and wrath, these malignant people hate Me (the Self within) in their own bodies and those of others.

SLOKA 19

These malicious and cruel evildoers, most degraded of men, I hurl perpetually into the wombs of Asuras only, in these worlds. 19

SLOKA 20

Obtaining the Asurika wombs, and deluded birth after birth, not attaining to Me, they thus fall, O son of Kunti, into a still lower condition.

SLOKA 21

Triple is this gate of hell, destructive of the self,—lust, anger and greed; therefore one should forsake these three. 21

SLOKA 22

The man who has got beyond these three gates of darkness, O son of Kunti, practises what is good for himself, and thus goes to the Goal Supreme.

SLOKA 23

He who, setting aside the ordinance of the Shâstra, acts under the impulse of desire, attains not to perfection, nor happiness, nor the Goal Supreme. 23

SLOKA 24

So let the Shâstra be thy authority in ascertaining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the Shâstra, thou shouldst act here. 24

Footnotes

• 337:1 Yoga—consists in making what has been learnt from the Shâstras and the Achârya an object of one’s own direct perception, by concentration and self-control.
• 338:2 Uncovetousness: Unaffectedness of the senses when in contact with their objects. Absence of fickleness: Avoidance of useless actions.—Sridhara.
• 339:4 Asurika: demoniac.
• 340:7 What to do . . . from: What acts they should perform to achieve the end of man, nor what acts they should abstain from to avert evil.
• 341:8 Without truth: As we are unreal so this universe is unreal, and the sacred Scriptures that declare the truth are unreal. What else—but lust can be the cause of the universe?—This is the view of the Lokâyatikas, the materialists.
• 341:9 Small intellect—as it concerns itself only with sense-objects and cannot soar higher.
• 342:11 Cares—as to the means of acquiring and preserving the innumerable objects of desire.
• 346:19 Wombs of Asuras: Wombs of the most cruel beings, as tigers, snakes, etc. Worlds: Paths of Samsâra passing through many a hell.
• 347:21 Destructive of the self: making the self fit for no human end whatever.
• 348:23 Perfection: fitness for attaining the end of man.
• 348:24 Here: in this world.