Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 8

 Chapter 16 verse 8 

They say, “The world is without absolute truth, without any basis (for moral order), and without a God (who has created or is controlling it). It is created from the combination of the two sexes, and has no purpose other than sexual gratification.” 

Beings with demonic nature don’t subscribe to Supreme entity as the creator of the universe and disavows any sense of morality in the world. They don’t trust or believe in any world order and subject themselves to basic material and carnal pleasures of the body. They believe the only purpose of the body is for sexual gratification and enjoyment and procreation is the only purpose for which the male and female exists. It is not just carnal desires but all bodily and material desires fall into this realm of narrow interpretation of the purpose of the universe. It is just a veil or cobweb cast in the consciousness of such beings.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 7

 Chapter 16 verse 7 

“Those possessing a demonic nature do not comprehend what actions are proper and what are improper. Hence, they possess neither purity, nor good conduct, nor even truthfulness.” 

One of the key attributes of a pious soul or a seeker of Brahman enumerated by Adi Shankara is Viveka or discrimination, the ability to discriminate between right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies, real and unreal etc. In this verse, Bhagwan is pointing out that beings who exhibit demonic traits don’t possess this ability to discriminate. They fall in to the trap of a false sense of logic that they have the right to live their life anyway they would like and the impact of their life on others is of no consequence to them. Being mindful of the impact of our actions and thoughts are an important step towards purity of actions.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 6

 Chapter 16 verse 6 

“There are two kinds of beings in this world—those endowed with a divine nature and those possessing a demoniac nature. I have described the divine qualities in detail, O Arjuna. Now hear from me about the demoniac nature.” 

In the spectrum of beings, 2 ends of the spectrum are the divine being and the demonic being. Different yugas or eons have different distributions of these beings. It is said that during the satya or krita yuga, daivas and asuras were in separate worlds, in tretha yuga there resided in the same world or planet, in dwapara yuga they resided in the same family and in kali yuga they reside in the same person! Bhagwan had earlier enumerated in detail the divine qualities in beings. He had briefly articulated the demonic qualities and is about to illustrate those in detail.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 5

 Chapter 16 verse 5 

“The divine qualities lead to liberation, while the demoniac qualities are the cause for a continuing destiny of bondage. Grieve not, O Arjuna, as you were born with saintly virtues.” 

Bhagwan has called Arjuna different platitudes such as the sinless one and saintly one. This is not an empty encouragement. This complete knowledge cannot be given to a lay man, not even the greatest warrior of his time. That is not the spiritual qualification necessary to receive this knowledge. The qualities required to receive this knowledge directly from Bhagwan is countless lives of devotion, steadfastness in right actions, thoughts and following dharma. It is obtained by not just positive action but avoiding negative behavior as well.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 4

 Chapter 16 verse 4 

“O Partha, the qualities of those who possess a demoniac nature is hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance.” 

Bhagwan could not be more prescriptive of how to reach Him. In the Vedic way of teaching, both what is good and bad has been enumerated so the student does not have any doubts or chance for misinterpretation. In the previous verses, Bhagwan pointed to behavior which leads beings to divinity. In this verse, he points to behaviors to avoid or what would lead beings to the slippery slope of spiritual fall. Being a hypocrite in having a different external disposition and internal bearing is not desirable. Other qualities which can cause a spiritual fall are arrogance (ego), conceit, anger (borne out of desires), harshness towards others and ignorance of true knowledge.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 1-3

 Chapter 16 verse 1-3 

“The Supreme Divine Personality said: O scion of Bharata, these are the saintly virtues of those endowed with a divine nature—fearlessness, purity of mind, steadfastness in spiritual knowledge, charity, control of the senses, performance of sacrifice, study of the sacred books, austerity, and straightforwardness; non-violence, truthfulness, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, restraint from fault-finding, compassion toward all living beings, absence of covetousness, gentleness, modesty, and lack of fickleness; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, bearing enmity toward none, and absence of vanity.” 

Bhagwan in this chapter will enumerate the characteristics of beings with divine personality and not so divine personality which needs further work. The characteristics of saintly personality of beings endowed with divine nature is:

·         Fearlessness

·         Purity of mind

·         Steeped in spiritual knowledge

·         Charity

·         Control of senses

·         Performance of sacrifices as ordained by Vedas

·         A good student of the Vedas

·         Austere

·         Straightforward

·         Non-violent

·         Truthful

·         Absence of anger

·         Renunciation

·         Peacefulness

·         Restraint from fault finding

·         Compassion towards all beings

·         Non covetousness

·         Gentleness

·         Modesty/Humility

·         Lack of fickleness

·         Vigor

·         Forgiveness

·         Fortitude

·         Cleanliness

·         Bearing enmity toward none

·         Absence of vanity

These 26 qualities pointed out by Bhagwan are what a jivatma strives to develop over thousands of lifetimes. Each of these traits is worth spending a lifetime or two to master. I also believe that developing some of these will open the floodgates and welcome other traits. My Guru talks about truth, mindfulness, commitment and compassion as some of those traits and also encourages everyone to discover their own truth. Feeling blessed to be guided in this life so well.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 15 verse 20

 Chapter 15 verse 20 

“I have shared this most secret principle of the Vedic scriptures with you, O sinless Arjuna. By understanding this, a person becomes enlightened, and fulfills all that is to be accomplished.” 

In the 15^th chapter, Bhagwan explained the material aspect of his creation with the metaphor of the upside down asvattha tree which illustrates the body, mind, intellect and ego of beings and the need to uproot the tree of life by detachment. He also explained the difference between the material world and His spiritual energy. Those who know Him, knows the Vedas and that He is the subject of the Vedas, Upanishads, smritis and puranas. The being who comprehends Bhagwan and His Supreme Consciousness knows it all and attains enlightenment.