Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 17

 Chapter 16 verse 17 

“Such self-conceited and stubborn people, full of pride and arrogant in their wealth, perform ostentatious sacrifices in name only, with no regard to the rules of the scriptures.” 

Divine and demonic qualities exist in each of us. Every day we need to fight the battle for the good to win over evil within us. Bhagwan means scriptural injunction of way to perform Vedic sacrifices with devotion towards Divine and bereft of ego of the actions. I would humbly submit to extend that construct of vedic sacrifices in the current context to everyday action to be done as an offering to the Lord Almighty without any ego or conceit. The mind moves very fast like the wind and could trip up the best of us. The only way to conquer the self is through the Self says Bhagwan earlier. Great advise as always!

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 16

 Chapter 16 verse 16

“Possessed and led astray by such imaginings, enveloped in a mesh of delusion, and addicted to the gratification of sensuous pleasures, they descend to the murkiest hell.”

Where is hell and heaven? It is suffered or enjoyed in this material world through the body, mind, intellect and ego instruments. I cannot imagine a different realm for hell or heaven. Mind is a very powerful instrument which can destroy a person’s outlook through delusion, addiction to material gratification or clinging. A sense of higher purpose will be missing in these beings due to strong association to material wants and desires. It can happen to any of us. God’s grace and rightful thoughts and actions at every moment in our lives is the key to escape this slippery slope.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 13-15

 Chapter 16 verse 13-15 

“The demonic person thinks, “I have gained so much wealth today, and I shall now fulfill this desire of mine. This is mine, and tomorrow I shall have even more. That enemy has been destroyed by me, and I shall destroy the others too! I am like God himself, I am the enjoyer, I am powerful, and I am happy. I am wealthy and I have highly placed relatives. Who else is equal to me? I shall perform sacrifices (to the celestial gods); I shall give alms; I shall rejoice.” In this way, they are deluded by ignorance.” 

The ego in beings can destroy us. We forget that there are several things which are outside our control for a particular event or action to happen. Blinded by ego, the demonic person thinks they have achieved everything they got through their own effort and the desire flow seems endless. They associate their material success and acquisition falsely as achieved by themselves without Divine help and hence even proclaim that they don’t need God or any Divine help. All their actions are self serving including fire sacrifices and donations meant to just please their ego. Even outwardly good actions done with egoistic desires are not recommended and falls into the demonic realm.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 12

 Chapter 16 verse 12 

“Held in bondage by hundreds of desires, and driven by lust and anger, they strive to accumulate wealth by unjust means, all for the gratification of their senses.” 

In kali yuga, Bhagwan’s descriptions of demonic behaviors seem to fit several of our actions. It is depressing to read this chapter so far but it is also good therapy and wake=up call to learn all the ills residing in me. Desire and anger drive us to focus on gratification of the sense objects and accumulation of wealth. To what end? I used to wonder if there is a famous person in this life such as a politician, film star or sportsperson, are they able to learn of their praise after their life? The answer in my opinion is a big NO. What comes with their soul to their future journey is the good deeds they have done and vasanas they continue to possess. Hence one’s life needs to be measured by what vasanas one was able to exhaust in this lifetime and how we didn’t pick up additional vasanas but acting in an egoless fashion.

 

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 11

 Chapter 16 verse 11 

“They are obsessed with endless anxieties that end only with death. Still, they maintain with complete assurance that gratification of desires and accumulation of wealth is the highest purpose of life.” 

When we will all realize that the entire world is a stage where a play or drama has been setup for us to act out? As I say, we are all actors on this material stage of the world. “rang manch ke kat putli-puppets in a puppet stage play”. I have seen close relatives who were anxious about family, great grand children et al which shows the love and affection they have for family but at some point, we need to detach ourselves from the material world without being disengaged. Recently, a hedge fund firm in wallstreet went belly up due to gross over leverage of derivative calls. Gordon Gekko in the movie “wallstreet” said “Greed is good”. It is not. “God is good and greed is demonic”.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 10

 Chapter 16 verse 10 

“Harboring insatiable lust, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, the demonic beings cling to their false tenets. Thus clouded, they are attracted to the impermanent and work with impure resolve.” 

Daily sandhya vandanam has the sloka which prays to the Supreme to help control desires, lust and anger. Each of us has the asuric tendencies somewhere in us just in equal measure to the possibility of divinity.

Reflecting on this chapter reminds me a lot of my demonic tendencies and it is a wake-up call for me to subdue it with the weapon of God’s grace. Where there is impurity in the heart, God cannot reside there. The impure mind, body, intellect and ego gets attached to the material impermanence of world and gets mired in pride, jealously, hypocrisy, arrogance and lust. Anyone can slip into this quagmire. The only way out is to appeal to the Divine in us and stay on the sattvic path as much as possible.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 9

 Chapter 16 verse 9 

“Holding fast to such views, these misdirected souls, with small intellect and cruel actions, arise as enemies of the world threatening its destruction.” 

When I was reflecting on the demonic nature of beings, I was thinking of the charvaka philosophy in sanatana dharma which rejects any form of knowledge which is inferred.  That philosophy rejects the law of karma, reincarnation and God or creator and propagates material pleasures as the only truth and death as the end of it all. In sanatana dharma history, such beliefs have existed from time to time and continue to be exhibited in society. However what has intrigued me is how Supreme does not interfere in one’s free will until it affects His broader laws of nature and then He resets world order in his own way through the multitude of avataras. These demonic beings due to their narrow materialistic views of the world order undertake cruel and adharmic actions and threaten world order and possible self destruction. Bhagwan refers them to “Nashta Atma or misdirected souls”. Nashta also means loss. It is indeed their loss but nothing is lost beyond redemption for any soul in sanatana dharma. They will get back on track in future lives which they don’t believe in themselves in this life!