Chapter 16 · Verse 4

Yoga through Discerning the Divine and Demoniac Natures

दम्भो दर्पोऽभिमानश्च क्रोधः पारुष्यमेव च।अज्ञानं चाभिजातस्य पार्थ सम्पदमासुरीम्

dambho darpo ’bhimānaśh cha krodhaḥ pāruṣhyam eva cha ajñānaṁ chābhijātasya pārtha sampadam āsurīm

Word Meanings

dambhaḥ — hypocrisy; darpaḥ — arrogance; abhimānaḥ — conceit; cha — and; krodhaḥ — anger; pāruṣhyam — harshness; eva — certainly; cha — and; ajñānam — ignorance; cha — and; abhijātasya — of those who possess; pārtha — Arjun, the son of Pritha; sampadam — qualities; āsurīm — demoniac

Language:

Translation

Hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance—these are the marks of one born with demoniac nature, O Arjuna.

Commentary

दम्भः hypocrisy? दर्पः arrogance? अभिमानः selfconceit? च and? क्रोधः wrath? पारुष्यम् harshness? एव even? च and? अज्ञानम् ignorance? च and? अभिजातस्य to the one born for? पार्थ O Partha? सम्पदम् state?,आसुरीम् demoniacal.Commentary Dambha Hypocrisy. To pretend to be what one is not? to pretend to be religious and pious. It consists of bragging of ones own greatness. Religious hypocrisy is the worst form of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a mixture of deceit and falsehood. Those who boast about their own merits will get demerit only.Darpa Arrogance. Pride of learning? wealth? high connection? etc. An arrogant man cannot endure to see his fellowmen happy. He is more and more enraged at the fortune of his fellowmen in the matter of learning? happiness and prosperity.Parushyam (in speech) To speak of the blind as having lotuslike eyes? of the ugly as beautiful? of a man of low birth as one of high birth and so on? usually with an ulterior? selfish or evil motive.Ajnanam Ignorance? misconception of ones duties. An ignorant man is blind as to what should be done and what should not be done. There is absence of discrimination. Just as a child will put anything it gets in its hands into its mouth? whether it is clean or dirty? so also is the condition of the ignorant man who is not able to discriminate between the Real and the unreal? the good and the evil? virtue and vice. He is on the path of destruction. He does not know the road that leads to Moskha or liberation. He is drowned in the ocean of this worldly existence.These are the six demonical alities. These evil alities constitute the satanic or demonical wealth. They are obstacles on the path of liberation.By addressing Arjuna as Partha? Lord Krishna implies that Arjuna has no demonical alities in him as he is born in a noble family and is the son of Pritha.People of Asuric nature have no faith. They dispute every doctrine. They deny the existence of God. They deny the cycle of the worldprocess? the Vedas and the laws of ethics. Sensual indulgence is their goal. They rob people and take away their neighbours wives. They kill people ruthlessly. They do not believe in reincarnation and in the other world. They have no idea of right conduct? purity and selfrestraint.Asuras are those persons who have waged war and who still wage war with the gods in heaven. Those who are endowed with Asuric tendencies or evil alities are Asuras or demons. They exist in abundance in this iron age. Kamsa was an Asura. Hiranyakasipu was an Asura.Even a man of university alitifactions and titles is a veritable Asura if he is endowed with evil tendencies or Asubha Vasanas.Esoterically? the war between the Asuras and the gods is the internal fight that is ever going on between the pure and the impure tendencies in man? between Sattva and RajasTamas.