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दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोग

Chapter 16

Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga

Yoga through Discerning the Divine and Demoniac Natures · 24 verses

This chapter is traditionally called Daivasura Sampada Vibhaga Yoga, the yoga that sorts the divine and demonic shares. Krishna names two endowments. The daivi sampad is the divine endowment, the qualities to take up: fearlessness, purity, self-restraint, truthful speech, non-violence, compassion, and the like. The asuri sampad is the demonic endowment: pretence, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and the loss of the power to tell right action from wrong. The divine endowment leads to release from the round of birth and death, the demonic to bondage; Krishna reassures Arjuna that he is born to the divine side. There are only two kinds of beings, and the long portrait that follows describes the demonic one so a seeker can spot these marks in himself and avoid them: bottomless craving, hypocrisy, sacrifice done only for show, the boast that credits every gain to oneself, and hatred of the Lord who dwells in all. Such people fall into lower births. Krishna closes by naming desire, anger, and greed as the threefold gate of hell, telling the seeker to give up all three, and making scripture the measure of right action. The schools differ on what release finally means and on how one is born to a given nature. Advaita Vedanta, Vishishtadvaita, Dvaita, Shuddhadvaita, Bhakti, and Kashmir Shaivism each read it their own way.

श्लोकाः
16.1अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिः ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः।

Fearlessness. Purity of mind. Steadfastness in knowledge and yoga. Charity, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of the scriptures, austerity, and uprightness.

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16.2अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम्।दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम्

Non-injury, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, peacefulness, and freedom from fault-finding. Compassion for all beings, non-covetousness, gentleness, modesty, and freedom from restlessness.

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16.3तेजः क्षमा धृतिः शौचमद्रोहो नातिमानिता।

Vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, freedom from malice, and freedom from vanity. These belong to one born for the divine nature, Arjuna.

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16.4दम्भो दर्पोऽभिमानश्च क्रोधः पारुष्यमेव च।अज्ञानं चाभिजातस्य पार्थ सम्पदमासुरीम्

Hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance. These belong to one born for the demonic nature, Arjuna.

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16.5दैवी सम्पद्विमोक्षाय निबन्धायासुरी मता।मा शुचः सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातोऽसि पाण्डव

The divine nature leads to liberation, the demonic to bondage. Do not grieve, Arjuna. You are born for the divine nature.

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16.6द्वौ भूतसर्गौ लोकेऽस्मिन् दैव आसुर एव च।दैवो विस्तरशः प्रोक्त आसुरं पार्थ मे श्रृणु

In this world there are two kinds of created beings: the divine and the demonic. The divine has been described at length. Now hear from me about the demonic, Arjuna.

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16.7प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुरासुराः।न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते

Demonic people do not understand what should be done and what should not be done. In them there is no purity, no good conduct, no truth.

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16.8असत्यमप्रतिष्ठं ते जगदाहुरनीश्वरम्।अपरस्परसम्भूतं किमन्यत्कामहैतुकम्

They say the world is unreal, without foundation, without a God. They say it is born of mutual union, driven by desire, and nothing more.

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16.9एतां दृष्टिमवष्टभ्य नष्टात्मानोऽल्पबुद्धयः।प्रभवन्त्युग्रकर्माणः क्षयाय जगतोऽहिताः

Holding to this view, these lost selves of small discernment, given to cruel deeds, rise up as enemies of the world, bent on its destruction.

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16.10काममाश्रित्य दुष्पूरं दम्भमानमदान्विताः।मोहाद्गृहीत्वासद्ग्राहान्प्रवर्तन्तेऽशुचिव्रताः

Clinging to insatiable desire, full of hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance, holding false ideas through delusion, they act with impure resolve.

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16.11चिन्तामपरिमेयां च प्रलयान्तामुपाश्रिताः।कामोपभोगपरमा एतावदिति निश्िचताः

Beset by countless cares that end only with death, holding the gratification of desire as the highest goal, they are certain that this is all there is.

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16.12आशापाशशतैर्बद्धाः कामक्रोधपरायणाः।ईहन्ते कामभोगार्थमन्यायेनार्थसञ्चयान्

Bound by hundreds of ties of hope, given over to desire and anger, they strive to amass wealth by unjust means for the gratification of their desires.

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16.13इदमद्य मया लब्धमिमं प्राप्स्ये मनोरथम्।इदमस्तीदमपि मे भविष्यति पुनर्धनम्

"I have gained this today. This desire I will fulfill. This wealth is mine now, and more will be mine in time."

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16.14असौ मया हतः शत्रुर्हनिष्ये चापरानपि।ईश्वरोऽहमहं भोगी सिद्धोऽहं बलवान्सुखी

"That enemy I have slain, and I will slay the others too. I am the lord. I am the enjoyer. I am accomplished, powerful, and happy."

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16.15आढ्योऽभिजनवानस्मि कोऽन्योऽस्ति सदृशो मया।यक्ष्ये दास्यामि मोदिष्य इत्यज्ञानविमोहिताः

"I am rich and well born. Who is my equal? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice." So they are deluded by a lack of discernment.

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16.16अनेकचित्तविभ्रान्ता मोहजालसमावृताः।प्रसक्ताः कामभोगेषु पतन्ति नरकेऽशुचौ

Bewildered by many thoughts, caught in the net of delusion, addicted to the enjoyment of desires, they fall into a foul hell.

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16.17आत्मसम्भाविताः स्तब्धा धनमानमदान्विताः।यजन्ते नामयज्ञैस्ते दम्भेनाविधिपूर्वकम्

Self-conceited and stubborn, filled with pride and drunk on wealth, they perform sacrifices in name only, for show, with no regard for the scriptural rules.

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16.18अहङ्कारं बलं दर्पं कामं क्रोधं च संश्रिताः।मामात्मपरदेहेषु प्रद्विषन्तोऽभ्यसूयकाः

Clinging to egotism, force, and arrogance, to desire and anger, these spiteful people hate me, present in their own bodies and in the bodies of others.

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16.19तानहं द्विषतः क्रूरान्संसारेषु नराधमान्।क्षिपाम्यजस्रमशुभानासुरीष्वेव योनिषु

These hateful, cruel people, the vilest of humankind, I cast again and again into the wombs of demons.

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16.20असुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि।मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम्

Born into demonic wombs birth after birth, these deluded people never reach me, Arjuna. From there they sink to a still lower state.

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16.21त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः।कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत्

Three are the gates of this hell, the ruin of the Self: desire, anger, and greed. So one should give up these three.

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16.22एतैर्विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमोद्वारैस्त्रिभिर्नरः।आचरत्यात्मनः श्रेयस्ततो याति परां गतिम्

Freed from these three gates of darkness, Arjuna, a person works for the good of the Self and so reaches the highest goal.

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16.23यः शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारतः।न स सिद्धिमवाप्नोति न सुखं न परां गतिम्

Whoever casts aside the rules of scripture and acts on the impulse of desire reaches neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the highest goal.

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16.24तस्माच्छास्त्रं प्रमाणं ते कार्याकार्यव्यवस्थितौ।ज्ञात्वा शास्त्रविधानोक्तं कर्म कर्तुमिहार्हसि

So let scripture be your authority in deciding what should and should not be done. Understand what the scriptural rules set forth, and act on it here.

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