Capter XVI
Divine and Demoniac Types The Blessed Lord said:
1. Fearlessness,
purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and devotion, benevolence,
control of the senses, worship, study of scriptures, austerity,
uprightness;
2. Non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger,
renunciation, tranquillity, aversion to slander, compassion to living
beings, freedom from sensuality, gentleness, modesty, steadfastness;
3.
Vigour, patience, fortitude, harmlessness, freedom from vanity - all
these, O scion of the Bharatas, are present in those born to a divine
heritage.
4. O son of Pritha! Pretentiousness, arrogance, overweening
pride, wrath, rudeness, as also insensitiveness to spiritual values -
all these are found in those born to a demoniac heritage.
5. It is
deemed that the divine heritage leads to liberation and the demoniac to
bondage. Grieve not, O son of Pandu! You are born to a divine heritage.
6.
In this world there are two types of creation, the divine and the
demoniac. The divine heritage has already been described. Now hear from
Me what constitutes the demoniac heritage, O son of Pritha. 7. Men of
demoniac nature know not what should be done and what should be avoided.
Neither purity, nor good conduct, nor truthfulness is found in them.
8.
According to them nothing is ultimately real in this world. It is
Godless and without any moral basis. Being born of sexual union, what
else but lust can be said to be its cause?
9. Holding such views,
these lost souls - these men of little understanding- given, as they
are, to cruel deeds opposed to general well-being, appear as agents for
the destruction of the world.
10. Steeped in insatiable lust,
motivated by hypocrisy, vanity, arrogance and avarice, given to corrupt
and impure ways of life, they work in pursuit of false values
entertained through delusion. 11. Obsessed with numerous cares all
through life, looking on sex indulgence as the highest aim, convinced
that there is no higher purpose in life than this;
12. Bound with a
hundred cords of hopes and expectations, and enslaved by lust and anger,
they strive to accumulate wealth in improper ways for the fulfilment of
their sensuous desires.
13. "Today I have gained this object,
tomorrow I shall gain that object of desire too; I have this much wealth
now, much more will be mine hereafter;
14. "This enemy has been
slain, the others too I will soon destroy; I am the master; everything
is for my enjoyment; I am the successful man, the powerful man, the
happy man;
15. "I am wealthy and high-born; who is there like unto
me? I will perform sacrifices, I will make charity, and I will rejoice" -
deluded thus by ignorance;
16. Gripped by numerous bewildering
thoughts, entangled in the meshes of delusion, and ever given to sex
.indulgences, they are degraded into states that are loathsome and full
of suffering.
17. Vain-glorious, stubborn and intoxicated with the
pride of wealth, they perform for mere show Yajnas that are so in name
only, being done without the observance of the commandments of the
scriptures.
18. Dominated by self-conceit, prone to the use of force,
arrogant, lustful and choleric, these traducers of virtue violate Me,
dwelling in them and also in others.
19. These vicious men,
oppressive cruel and sinful as they are, - are always hurled down by Me
into demoniac wombs in life after life in the transmigratory cycle.
20.
O son of Kunti! Falling into demoniac wombs, in life after life, they
go to still lower states of degradation, without attaining Me.
21.
Lust, anger and greed - this triad leads to the destruction of man's
spiritual nature. They form the gateway to hell; they should be
abandoned.
22. If a man is free from these three, the gateways to hell, he can work out his own good and reach the highest goal.
23.
He who abandons the commandments of the scriptures and lives as his
desires prompt him, he attains neither spiritual perfection, nor worldly
happiness nor liberation. 24. Therefore let the scriptures be your norm
in determining what should be done and what not. Understand the
injunction of the scriptures first and then set yourself to work.
