Chapter 16 - Divine and Demonic qualities

Summary

Krishna here again talks about the real (self/Purusha) and unreal (world/Prakriti/name and form) and says those who engage in the world unaware of the Self can never find peace or joy, but encounter constant suffering. If they don’t make any effort to come out of their false nature, they continue to be born in the company of the ignorant and continue to suffer. Only through self effort, maturity, good merit and contact with holy men, can one rise above the demonic qualities. 

Yatharth

There are only two types of people in the world. those with divine qualities and those with demonic qualities. Divine qualities lead to liberation while the demonic qualities lead to bondage.  

Qualities of divine beings

• free from fear, contented, purity in the inner faculties, committed to knowledge, generosity, yagna, self study and endurance
• non violent (free from aggression), seeker of truth, denounced anger, established in peace, soothing speech, compassionate, gentle, live in the world but not attached to it, not swayed by the sensory pleasures.
• radiant, forgiving, steadfast, clean, not upset with those who tend to upset them, not arrogant.

Qualities of demonic beings

• arrogance, pride, anger, harsh nature and ignorance
• unaware of the functioning of the existence - so they are not bothered about purity, conduct or truth, they feel that the whole universe is a product of lust.With this limited understanding, they forget their true nature, become dull witted and engage in activities that destroy the world around them.
• They run behind endless desires, get established in wrong knowledge and engage in unholy actions
• They are always worrying, thinking about sensory pleasures and believing that there is no joy beyond the senses.
• They are engaged in accumulating wealth through improper means only with the intent of fulfilling desires or sensory pleasures
• They get stuck with doership and believe everything is happening because of their effort and intelligence, believe in taking revenge and giving back to those who have hurt them.
• though they may engage in worship, yagna and charity, all these are only show off without any real devotion or intent.

When one lives his life with the demonic qualities, he suffers enormously and what more, being unaware that it is Me who dwells in all beings, he hates others. When I see such people who are not making any effort to come out of ignorance or change their conduct, i put them again and again in the wombs of similar minded people. In spite of being surrounded by suffering, if they dont wake up, they move into darker worlds with more suffering.
 

The three things that lead to your downfall are lust, anger and greed. Make every effort not to be in their grip. Follow the scriptures to help you to get out of these vices and you will attain Me. And once you have attained Me you attain both the worldly prosperity and the inner peace. One who ignores the scriptures and does things as he pleases in the world will neither experience joy, nor attain Me.