Sacred Scripture / Chapter 16
24 published verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita (दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोगः). The Yoga of Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga. Krishna lists divine qualities such as fearlessness, purity, generosity, truthfulness, compassion, forgiveness and humility, then contrasts them with hypocrisy, arrogance, anger and ignorance. He reassures Arjuna and explains how distorted outlooks, insatiable desire and unjust accumulation lead to harmful conduct. A quoted boastful inner monologue illustrates pride in wealth, power and status; ritual performed for display lacks sincerity. Traditional consequences are described in terms of rebirth and decline. Desire, anger and greed are identified as three destructive gates to abandon. Freedom from them supports true welfare, and the chapter closes with learning scriptural guidance before choosing and performing action.
Explore original Sanskrit, word-by-word padartha, trilingual translations, commentary, reflections, and modern life applications.
24 verses
Verse 16.1
abhayaṃ sattvasaṃśuddhirjñānayogavyavasthitiḥ | dānaṃ damaśca yajñaśca svādhyāyastapa ārjavam ||1||
The Lord said: Fearlessness, purity of inner being, steadfastness in the yoga of knowledge, generosity, self-restraint, sacrifice, study of sacred teachings, austerity and straightforwardness—
Verse 16.2
ahiṃsā satyamakrodhastyāgaḥ śāntirapaiśunam | dayā bhūteṣvaloluptvaṃ mārdavaṃ hrīracāpalam ||2||
Nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, peace, absence of slander, compassion toward beings, freedom from greed, gentleness, modesty and freedom from restlessness—
Verse 16.3
tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucamadroho nātimānitā | bhavanti sampadaṃ daivīmabhijātasya bhārata ||3||
Vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of malice and freedom from excessive pride belong to one endowed with divine qualities, O Bharata.
Verse 16.4
dambho darpo'bhimānaśca krodhaḥ pāruṣyameva ca | ajñānaṃ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadamāsurīm ||4||
Hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance belong to one endowed with demonic qualities, O Partha.
Verse 16.5
daivī sampadvimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā | mā śucaḥ sampadaṃ daivīmabhijāto'si pāṇḍava ||5||
Divine qualities lead toward liberation, while demonic qualities are regarded as leading to bondage. Do not grieve, O Pandava; you are endowed with divine qualities.
Verse 16.6
dvau bhūtasargau loke'smin daiva āsura eva ca | daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta āsuraṃ pārtha me śṛṇu ||6||
There are two kinds of beings in this world, the divine and the demonic. The divine has been described in detail; now hear from Me about the demonic, O Partha.
Verse 16.7
pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca janā na vidurāsurāḥ | na śaucaṃ nāpi cācāro na satyaṃ teṣu vidyate ||7||
People of demonic disposition do not know what should be undertaken or what should be avoided. Neither purity, proper conduct nor truthfulness is found in them.
Verse 16.8
asatyamapratiṣṭhaṃ te jagadāhuranīśvaram | aparasparasambhūtaṃ kimanyatkāmahaitukam ||8||
They say the world has no truth, no foundation and no Lord, that it arises from mutual union alone: what other cause could there be but desire?
Verse 16.9
etāṃ dṛṣṭimavaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmāno'lpabuddhayaḥ | prabhavantyugrakarmāṇaḥ kṣayāya jagato'hitāḥ ||9||
Holding to this view, those who have lost their spiritual direction and have little understanding engage in fierce actions, harmful to the world and tending toward its destruction.
Verse 16.10
kāmamāśritya duṣpūraṃ dambhamānamadānvitāḥ | mohādgṛhītvāsadgrāhānpravartante'śucivratāḥ ||10||
Giving themselves to insatiable desire, filled with hypocrisy, pride and intoxication with self-importance, they cling through delusion to false notions and act with impure commitments.
Verse 16.11
cintāmaparimeyāṃ ca pralayāntāmupāśritāḥ | kāmopabhogaparamā etāvaditi niścitāḥ ||11||
Taking refuge in immeasurable anxieties that last until death, they regard the enjoyment of desires as the highest aim, convinced that this is all.
Verse 16.12
āśāpāśaśatairbaddhāḥ kāmakrodhaparāyaṇāḥ | īhante kāmabhogārthamanyāyenārthasañcayān ||12||
Bound by hundreds of cords of expectation and given over to desire and anger, they seek to accumulate wealth unjustly for the gratification of desire.
Verse 16.13
idamadya mayā labdhamimaṃ prāpsye manoratham | idamastīdamapi me bhaviṣyati punardhanam ||13||
Their thought is: Today I have gained this; I shall obtain that desire. This wealth is mine, and more wealth will become mine again.
Verse 16.14
asau mayā hataḥ śatrurhaniṣye cāparānapi | īśvaro'hamahaṃ bhogī siddho'haṃ balavānsukhī ||14||
Their boast continues: That enemy has been slain by me, and I shall slay others too. I am the lord; I am the enjoyer; I am accomplished, powerful and happy.
Verse 16.15
āḍhyo'bhijanavānasmi ko'nyo'sti sadṛśo mayā | yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣya ityajñānavimohitāḥ ||15||
They say: I am wealthy and well-born; who else is equal to me? I shall sacrifice, I shall give, I shall rejoice. Thus they are deluded by ignorance.
Verse 16.16
anekacittavibhrāntā mohajālasamāvṛtāḥ | prasaktāḥ kāmabhogeṣu patanti narake'śucau ||16||
Confused by many thoughts, caught in the net of delusion and attached to the gratification of desire, they fall into an impure hell.
Verse 16.17
ātmasambhāvitāḥ stabdhā dhanamānamadānvitāḥ | yajante nāmayajñaiste dambhenāvidhipūrvakam ||17||
Self-conceited and obstinate, intoxicated by wealth and status, they perform sacrifices in name only, with hypocrisy and without following the prescribed way.
Verse 16.18
ahaṅkāraṃ balaṃ darpaṃ kāmaṃ krodhaṃ ca saṃśritāḥ | māmātmaparadeheṣu pradviṣanto'bhyasūyakāḥ ||18||
Clinging to ego, force, arrogance, desire and anger, these malicious people hate Me dwelling in their own bodies and in the bodies of others.
Verse 16.19
tānahaṃ dviṣataḥ krūrānsaṃsāreṣu narādhamān | kṣipāmyajasramaśubhānāsurīṣveva yoniṣu ||19||
Those hateful, cruel and base people, whose conduct is inauspicious, I repeatedly cast into demonic births within samsara.
Verse 16.20
āsurīṃ yonimāpannā mūḍhā janmani janmani | māmaprāpyaiva kaunteya tato yāntyadhamāṃ gatim ||20||
Entering demonic births, deluded from birth to birth, they fail to reach Me, O Kaunteya, and then go toward an even lower state.
Verse 16.21
trividhaṃ narakasyedaṃ dvāraṃ nāśanamātmanaḥ | kāmaḥ krodhastathā lobhastasmādetattrayaṃ tyajet ||21||
There are three gates to this hell, destructive of one's own well-being: desire, anger and greed. Therefore one should abandon these three.
Verse 16.22
etairvimuktaḥ kaunteya tamodvāraistribhirnaraḥ | ācaratyātmanaḥ śreyastato yāti parāṃ gatim ||22||
Freed from these three gates of darkness, O Kaunteya, a person acts for their own true welfare and then reaches the highest goal.
Verse 16.23
yaḥ śāstravidhimutsṛjya vartate kāmakārataḥ | na sa siddhimavāpnoti na sukhaṃ na parāṃ gatim ||23||
One who sets aside scriptural guidance and acts according to personal desire attains neither fulfillment, happiness nor the highest goal.
Verse 16.24
tasmācchāstraṃ pramāṇaṃ te kāryākāryavyavasthitau | jñātvā śāstravidhānoktaṃ karma kartumihārhasi ||24||
Therefore let scripture be your authority in determining what should be done and what should not be done. Knowing what its guidance teaches, you should perform action here.
