Bhagavad Gita—Chapter Sixteen

Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal

The Holy Lord said:
Courage, purity, firmness in
Knowledge and yoga, almsgiving,
Sense-control, sacrifice, study,
Austerity, and uprightness, (1)

Harmlessness, absence of anger,
Truthfulness, renunciation,
Tranquillity, truth, compassion,
Uncovetousness, gentleness,1 (2)

Boldness, forgiveness, fortitude,
Purity, absence of hatred,
Absence of pride–all these belong
To one born for a divine2 state. (3)

Flamboyance, arrogance, anger,
Self-conceit, harshness, ignorance–
All these qualities belong to
One born for a demonic3 state. (4)

The divine state is deemed to make
For liberation–for bondage,
The demonic; but do not grieve:
You are born for a divine state. (5)

There are two types of beings in
This world: divine and demonic.
The divine type has been described;
Now hear of the demonic type. (6)

Those of demonic nature know
Not what to do or refrain from;
Purity is not found in them,
Nor is good conduct, nor is truth. (7)

“The universe is without truth,
Without a basis, without God,
Produced by mutual union,
With lust for cause–what else?” say they. (8)

Holding this view, these ruined souls
Small-minded and of cruel deeds
Arise as the enemies of
The world, bent on its destruction. (9)

Filled with insatiable desires,
Full of hypocrisy, pride, and
Arrogance, holding evil thoughts
Through delusion, they foully work. (10)

Beset with immense cares ending
Only with death, and regarding
Gratification of lust as
The highest–feeling it is all; (11)

Bound by a hundred ties of hope,
Given over to lust and wrath,
They strive to gain by unjust means
Wealth for sensual enjoyment. (12)

“This today has been gained by me;
And this desire I shall obtain;
All this is mine, and now this wealth
Also shall be mine in future. (13)

“I slew that enemy, and more
I shall slay. For I am the Lord,
I enjoy, I am successful,
Perfect, powerful, and happy. (14)

“I am rich and well-born,” they say,
“Who else is equal unto me?
I will sacrifice, give, rejoice.”
Thus deluded by ignorance, (15)

Led astray by many fancies,
Covered by delusion’s meshes,
Addicted to gratifying
Lust, they fall into a foul hell. (16)

Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with
The pride and foolishness of wealth,
They sacrifice in name, for show,
Contrary to the prescribed forms. (17)

Given over to egoism,
Power, insolence, lust and wrath,
These malignant people hate Me
In both themselves and in others. (18)

These malicious evildoers,
Cruel, most degraded of men,
I hurl perpetu’lly into
Only the wombs of demons here. (19)

Entering the demonic wombs,
And deluded birth after birth,
Not attaining to Me, they fall
Into still lower conditions. (20)

Yea, triple is this gate of hell,
That is destructive of the self–
Lust, anger, and greed; therefore one
Should forsake ev’ry one of these. (21)

The man who has got beyond these
Three gates of darkness, Arjuna,
Practices what is good for him,
And thus goes to the Goal Supreme. (22)

He who sets aside the counsels
Of scriptures from desire’s impulse,
Attains not unto perfection,
Nor happiness, nor Goal Supreme. (23)

The scriptures should be your guide in
What should be done and what should not.
Knowing what the scriptures prescribe,
You should act here within the world. (24)

Om Tat Sat
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the sixteenth discourse entitled: The Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal.

More chapters of the Bhagavad Gita:

• Introduction • Chapter One—The Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna • Chapter Two—Sankhya Yoga • Chapter Three—The Yoga of Action • Chapter Four—The Yoga of Wisdom • Chapter Five—The Yoga of Renunciation of Action • Chapter Six—The Yoga of Meditation • Chapter Seven—The Yoga of Wisdom and Realization • Chapter Eight—The Yoga of Imperishable Brahman • Chapter Nine—The Yoga of the Kingly Science and Kingly Secret • Chapter Ten—The Yoga of Divine glories • Chapter Eleven—The Yoga of the Vision of the Cosmic Form • Chapter Twelve—The Yoga of Devotion • Chapter Thirteen—The Yoga of the Distinction Between the Field and the Knower of the Field • Chapter Fourteen—The Yoga of the Division of the Three Gunas • Chapter Fifteen—The Yoga of the Supreme Spirit • Chapter Sixteen— Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal • Chapter Seventeen—The Yoga of the Division of Threefold Faith • Chapter Eighteen—The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation • Sri Maharshi Gita—An arrangement of verses of the Bhagavad Gita made by Sri Ramana Maharshi that gives an overview of the essential message of the Gita. • The Maharshi Gita sung in english. – This is an arrangement of verses of the Bhagavad Gita made by Sri Ramana Maharshi that gives an overview of the essential message of the Gita. Arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text and sung to a classical Gita melody used to chant the Gita every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India. Sung by the monks of Atma Jyoti Ashram. • To hear online audio files of the above translation of the Gita, click here.

More Bhagavad Gita Commentary by Swami Nirmalananda:
• A Practical Suggestion on Studying the Gita
1. The Battlefield of the Mind 2. The Smile of Krishna 3. Right But Wrong 4. Birth and Death–The Great Illusions 5. Experiencing The Unreal 6. The Unreal and the Real 7. The Body and the Spirit 8. Know the Atman! 9. Practical Self-Knowledge 10. Perspective on Birth and Death 11. The Wonder of the Atman 12. The Indestructible Self 13. “Happy The Warrior” 14. The Virtues of Karma Yoga 15. Religiosity Versus Religion 16. Perspective on Scriptures 17. How Not To Act 18. How To Act 19. How To Be Miserable; How To Be Free 20. Wisdom About the Wise 21. Wisdom about both the Foolish and the Wise 22. The Way of Peace 23. Calming the Storm 24. First Steps in Karma Yoga 25. From the Beginning to the End 26. The Real “Doers” 27. Our Spiritual Marching Orders 28. Freedom From Karma 29. “Nature” 30. Swadharma 31. In the Grip of the Monster 32. “Devotee and Friend” 33. The Eternal Being 34. Worshippers and the Worshipped 35. Caste and Karma 36. Action–Divine and Human 37. The Mystery of Action and Inaction 38. The Wise in Action 39. Sacrificial Offerings 40. The Worship of Brahman 41. The Core Problem 42. Action–Renounced and Performed 43. Freedom (Moksha)	44. The Brahman-Knower 45. The Goal of Karma Yoga 46. The Will of the Wise 47. The Yogi’s Retreat 48. The Yogi’s Inner Life 49. Union With Brahman 50. The Yogi’s Future 51. Success in Yoga 52. The Net and Its Weaver 53. Those Who Seek God 54. Those Who Worship God and the Gods 55. The Veil in the Mind 56. The Big Picture 57. The Sure Way To Realize God 58. Day, Night, and the Two Paths 59. The Supreme Knowledge 60. Universal Being 61. Maya–Its Dupes and Its Knowers 62. “Shall Not” Versus “Can Not” 63. Going To God 64. Wisdom and Knowing 65. Going To The Source 66. From Hearing To Seeing 67. The Wisdom of Devotion 68. Right Conduct 69. The Field and Its Knower 70. Interaction of Purusha and Prakriti 71. Seeing The One Within the All 72. The Three Gunas–Part One 73. The Cosmic Tree 74. Freedom 75. The All-pervading Reality 76. The Divine and the Demonic 77. Faith and the Three Gunas 78. Food and the Three Gunas 79. Worship and Discipline and the Gunas 80. Tapasya and the Gunas 81. Sannyasa and Tyaga 82. Deeper Insights On Action 83. The Three Gunas: Intellect and Firmness 84. The Three Kinds of Happiness 85. Freedom 86. The Great Devotee 87. The Final Words

Read the Bhagavad Gita online: The English text of the Gita posted on this Web Site is arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text so it can be sung–as it is done every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India.

2) Daivim: The state of a deva or “shining one.” In this instance it means those positive souls who are progressing toward divinity. [Go back]

3) Asurim: The state of an asura, one who dwells in darkness (a-sura–without the light). Here it means those negative souls who are turned away from divinity and moving further into degredation of consciousness and mode of life. [Go back]