Lord Krishna said: Fearlessness, wholesome purity, adequate attunement to and abidance in spiritual wisdom, charitability, sensory regulation, acting with full dedication to the supreme Reality (yajña), study of scriptures, austerity, straightforwardness;

Krishna divides human tendencies as divine and demonic. He lists 26 divine characteristics, enriching the individual and society alike. All relate to the mind, intelligence and ego, the inner personality. The seeker should strive to incorporate these in him. For this, he has to fondly introspect over them. Like nutrition and exercises for the body, these will enrich the mind and intelligence, which, in turn, will reflect in his character, behaviour and interaction. Rāga and dveṣa and bhaya constrict the mind. When freed of them, mind becomes pure, wholesome and effective. Charitability expands the mind. Acting with yajña attitude sublimates ego and possessiveness. Sensory discipline, scriptural study, austerity, and straightforwardness enhance inner strength and remove slavery to desires. All these qualities enrich the inner personality.

Non-violence or non-injury, truthfulness, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of fault-finding, compassion for all creatures, absence of greed, softness of mind, modesty, avoiding fickleness and useless pursuits;

Spiritual enrichment is not a partial or fragmented growth. All these qualities must grace one’s personality more and more. They are inherently linked to each other. Harmfulness and hurting tendencies must vacate. Undue resentment, hate or dislike must leave for ever. Truthfulness must adorn the seeker in all he does. The real note of inner renunciation must grace him, leading to the fall of desire and possessiveness. With the dawning of universal love, speech should become endearing and gentle. Concern and sympathy for all should fill the seeker’s heart. He will be active, but in all he does, thinks and speaks, no delusional clinging will be there. Poise and balance will grace his behaviour. Modesty and moderation are indispensable in spiritual knowledge. Fickleness must give way to stability.

Brilliance, patience, cum-tolerance, will-power, clean-liness, absence of hostility and haughtiness – these are the (twenty six) qualities that grace one born with divine nature, O descendant of Bharata.

Tejas, spiritual splendour, begins to reign in a spiritual seeker, when his sādhanā grows and begins to nourish him, generating inner and outer purity. This spiritual brilliance is something that goes with the sensitivity of the senses, purity of the mind, and sharpness of the intelligence. The intelligence becomes perceptive and subtle, and it begins to instil its qualities to the mind, which, in turn, employs the senses to interact with the objects with enough spiritual inspiration and vigour. Humility is a unique virtue that graces spiritual seeking and interactional life. Knowledge is meant to bring more and more humility and sublimity to its possessor. In these three verses (16.1-3), Krishna completes the enumeration of the twenty six divine qualities that every seeker must strive to inculcate in himself. To be divine is to be obviously qualitative in one’s life, inner as well as interactional. Spiritual qualities make one an endearing human model for all around.

Ostentation and hypocrisy, arrogance, pride, hatred and anger, cruelty or harshness, ignorance and delusion – these are the features, O Partha, of one born to a demoniacal heritage.

While divine qualities are lofty, sublime and benevolent, demonical ones are harsh, cruel and destructive to oneself and others alike. To be strong, resourceful and graceful is desirable. But to pretend to be so is harmful, dangerous. And yet such false display is characteristic of the vicious. The society will always have a place for them. One has to learn to manage them discreetly. To be respectable in the eyes of others is great. But to pretend respectability without the requisite qualities or enrichments, is entirely different. The demonic people will lavishly display false respectability. Arrogance and pride are their constant associates. Hypocrisy, posing to be what they are not, is equally their characteristic. Harshness in speech, action and thought mark their behaviour everywhere. Hatred, intolerance and delusion are their chosen delight. Krishna empowers the seeker to deal with all these āsura traits discreetly.

Divine qualities conduce to liberation, and the demonic ones to bondage. Do not grieve, O Arjuna, you are born with divine qualities.

Based on sattva, rajas and tamas, the three guṇas of prakṛti, divine and demonic qualities constitute the world. Both have their place in Creation, each with its own material and spiritual effects. Material effects are external. But spiritual effects are always on oneself, in the mind, intelligence and ego, influencing one’s inner growth, such as the development of one’s character and behaviour. Krishna says that divine qualities lead one to inner redemption. Only those of divine nature will be inclined to think about what, other than matter and energy, is present within the body. What is the mind, the intelligence? How is the 'I' different from them? Thoughts of this kind alone make one spiritual, a path reserved only for those imbued with divine nature. Krishna assures Arjuna that he has divine traits. That is why even in the battlefield, he wanted to outlive his delusion and gain the supreme path of śreyas.

In this world there are two kinds of beings created – divine (daiva) and devilish (āsura). I have spoken in detail about the divine kind. O Partha, hear now about the devilish kind.

In this world there are two kinds of beings created – divine (daiva) and devilish (āsura). I have spoken in detail about the divine kind. O Partha, hear now about the devilish kind. To make our life smooth, sublime and successful, we have to know about the world in which we live, move and act. Krishna thus explains how the divine and devilish together constitute the world. Earlier also he has emphasized that opposites coexist in Creation. To have the necessary inner spiritual strength and harmony, a fair knowledge of divine and demonic traits is needed. Having described the divine characteristics, he now proceeds to detail the opposite ones too, to make his narration full and relevant. Why should there be evil in the world at all? This is an oft repeated question. Everything in existence and expression is based upon comparison and contrast, which alone enables knowledge to evolve. This essentially gives rise to a variety of contrasts. Krishna details the destructive traits also, so that the seeker will not be disgusted any time seeing the unpleasant.

The āsura people know not what should be done (dharma) and what should not be done (adharma). Such people have neither cleanliness (outer and inner) nor good conduct. They are not given to truthfulness.

When an individual lives alone, he can think, speak and act in any manner. He will have no let or hindrance, nor will he cause any harm to another, for he is alone. But when two or more people begin to live together, ethics and propriety become indispensable. Whatever everyone does must conform to the standards and styles benevolent to all, and harmful to none. To feel complacent and not to be concerned about these is a sheer folly.But the world will always have some devilish people, who have no regard for disciplines, values and standards. They care not to know what is good and auspicious, and what is not.They have no care for cleanliness, nobility or benevolence. Little do they want to know about dharma and adharma. Why say much, they have no regard for even truth or truthfulness at all.

They say that the world is unreal, has no order or foundation (like morality or ethics). There is no God to control. It is just born of union; what else than passion can be the cause of it?

Disregard towards truth, morality, ethics and propriety rule their thought, speech and action. They think: “There is none like God to create or to maintain order and justice. To indulge in any religious or spiritual thinking is a sheer waste of time. No intelligent person should take to it."“Birth of any kind is governed by the process of union between two factors having a propensity to unite. Their union is very natural, an act of passion. No special regard or morality is behind it."“Passion is part of life, which has its sway in beings. Like hunger and thirst, it manifests in beings. No serious enquiry about it is called for. To indulge in undue probing in the matter is unnecessary and to be avoided.”This is how they think, speak and propagate. And they delight in their pet notions heartily.

Fostering this kind of vision, lost to their own distorted intellect, they emerge as enemies of the world, and take to fierce, violent acts meant to bring about largescale degeneration and ruin.

This happens because they have a very constricted intelligence, which rejoices in selfish thoughts and actions. It leads to all kinds of fissiparous tendencies, violence and destruction. They court this kind of thinking and its effects right from the beginning.Human mind has two courses to adopt: One is good, noble, adorable and helpful to others. The other is bad, ignoble, detestable and harmful. Everyone is free to choose either the first or the second. These people are victimized by the second.With constricted intelligence, they refuse to see anything beyond; and indulge in grave cruelty, resulting in decline and degeneration of the world. Mahabharata war is itself an outcome of such wickedness of Duryodhana, which affected hundreds of thousands of people in this subcontinent.

Resorting to insatiable desire, coupled with ostentation, pride and arrogance, holding to wrong ideas under sheer delusion, they resort to impure activities with evil resolve.

Krishna is not satisfied with the description he has given about the āsura people. He adds: Their greed is insatiable. Led by false pride and arrogance, they indulge in everything wrong, harmful and destructive. Obstinately they cling to their wrong ways with impure resolve and enthusiasm.With pretence and arrogance, they inflict undue torment on those around. Their behaviour becomes more and more painful and afflicting.The evil ideas they cling to are dangerous and tormenting. They distort everything and proceed relentlessly with what they choose and prefer, feeling no anguish in the matter. Their interest and enthusiasm, instead, only increase. Uncleanliness, disorder, obstinacy, etc. are their constant wont.

Taking to unbridled thoughts ending with only death, indulging in gratifying desires with no let or hindrance, they resolve: This is all that life is.

Their thoughts, imaginations and ambitions have no limit or rationality. To them, gratifying desires is the only aim of life. So, till death, anything can be done, without question. Might is right; and there is no God, no Destiny, they feel. Their focus is on greed and enjoyment (kāma and bhoga). They have no concern for dharma and moksha (ethics and inner freedom). Hence they refuse to adhere to discipline, restraint or any concern for others. Having no regard for the society, they are out to do whatever occurs to them. When one has no self-restraint and societal concern, he tends to be licentious. Cruelty and destruction alone can result from such a one! Duryodhana's behaviour exemplifies this well. Yet he was able to muster one and a half times Yudhiṣṭhira's army for the Kurukṣetra war. The world always hosts such people. And one has to be ready to deal with them confidently.

Entangled firmly by hundreds of chains of desire and expectation, taking refuge in lust and anger, they strive unjustly to amass wealth for gratifying their sensory cravings.

Krishna does not stop his description of the āsura ways and means. People of this group have only bodily and sensory thoughts and ambitions. They feel that we are born with a body and senses only to enjoy the world through them. Accordingly, they give vent to various instigations, triggered by greed, passion and hatred, taking shelter in them for everything. The demonical nature survives on hopes and expectations. They are not able to get rid of these urges, as if bound firmly by nooses. While others take refuge under the Supreme, these people's refuge is the shell of passion and sensory delights. Nothing else is worthy of care and concern for them. Their attention is solely in amassing wealth and power for enjoyment, no matter by what means they achieve these. Verily the āsura people are ‘artha-kāmī', aspiring only for wealth and the perishable worldly objects. How partial and blinded are their ways and vision!

Today I have gained this object of desire, and tomorrow I shall have that. This much of wealth I already have with me, and more will come to me in future.

Mind is given to its own thinking, and in this it is not deterred at all, especially in the case of licentious people. They are wildly ambitious, and they take pleasure in inflating their nature and tendencies. They go on counting on what they have gained and what further will be added. In everything their minds think in an inflated manner, putting them to imaginary satisfaction, hope and expectation. This is the capacity of the mind, moulded by Nature. Unless its working is brought under moderation and discretion, one will remain deluded and a slave to his cravings. The devilish people are under this spell and hence there is no scope for them to be corrected and refined. Theỳ remain an accursed part of the society. The plight is quite miserable and hopeless. But in the complex world, there is enough ground for such blinded people also.

This enemy has been slain by me; the rest also I shall kill. I am the Lord. I am the enjoyer. I am successful, powerful and happy.

The egotism and delusion in these wicked people can cause any extent of havoc. Their assertion and resolve can spell incredible danger, says Krishna. The demonic people delight in speaking: “This is the enemy I have slain ruthlessly; others too I shall kill next. I will do what I want. Who is there to stop me? I am irresistible. I can and will finish off whomever I want. I have already butchered many. I will continue to do so even more. “Fools alone speak of a God as Supreme. In fact, I am the God, the controller. I have the freedom to enjoy and revel in anything I like. I am powerful. I am self-attained. I seek to rejoice in the way I want. The world is for people like me, to grab and enjoy.” The human mind is notorious. It can goad one to any extent in any direction. Nature provides for such aberrations as well!

I am abundantly rich; I am well born. Who is there equal to me? I shall do sacrifices. I will give liberally. I will rejoice and revel - thus they thrive blinded by ignorance.

The difference in humans is not so much in their bodies, limbs and senses, but in their minds, their constitution. The same mind can produce varied thoughts, feelings, emotions and ambitions. These can be noble and lofty. They can as well be just the opposite. Here is the illustration of such ignoble and wicked thoughts, feelings and motivations. Unless one cultivates the habit of discerning the intrinsic wrong in his thinking, and corrects it in time, the evil resolve will grow to terrible proportions. The disaster it works will be indescribable. Krishna is illustrating how gravely wrong and harmful the wicked thoughts can be. The cruel mind gloats over its own ambitions and finds arguments to support them and boost its ego, infatuation and delusion. All the claims mentioned above are a result of this haughty self-aggrandizing nature.

There are in the world two Purushas - the perishable and the imperishable. All beings constitute the perishable. And the imperishable is said to be the unshakeable, unaffected.The supreme Purusha, the Transcendental, is still different. That is called Paramātmā, the one permeating and sustaining all the three worlds, the all-controller.

Suddenly Krishna brings in the triple concepts of perishable and imperishable purushas and the still superior one called Purushottama. On looking at the world what strikes us first is the perishable nature of everything, big or small, on the earth and beyond it as well. Change is Nature's characteristic, which denotes perishability. For anything to be changeful, there should be a non-changing base or substratum. Nature, with its three guṇas constitutes this, which has been existing for an incalculable time. While the products of guṇas change fast, ceaselessly, guṇas remain as their substratum. On this basis, we can regard them as imperishable, compared to the perishable features. But this is not the sole, singular adhiṣṭhāna (substratum), which evolves the changefulness and acts as the changeless base. It is like wakefulness, dream and sleep, the three states of ours. The three have their individual base. If you probe further, the three states together with their immediate individual substratum (which is the fourth), are themselves creations of still something finer, greater and ultimate. That fifth factor, so to say, is the imperishable existence. All else is merely its display. That ultimate is Paramātmā, which the ‘I’ denotes. Understood in its absolute nature, this ‘I’ is the Paramātmā. Perishable prakṛti including our body has its substratum, the antaḥkaraṇa (inner coordinate or jīva). Beyond this is the ultimate adhiṣṭhāna, the Purushottama, the supreme Purusha, called Paramātmā. Krishna identifies it as within oneself. With senses superior to objects (3.42), everything in us is superior as we go inward, with Paramātmā the most superior!

Confounded by many (egoistic) thoughts, surrounded by the net of delusion, extremely glued to desires and their gratification, they fall into the most filthy hell.

Krishna continues the description of the villainous and destructive ways of the asura people, who will not mend their ways, and hence court the most downgrading plight of human life. They foster criss-cross thoughts of greed and domination. Confounded by these and enveloped by widespread delusion, they are unable to extricate themselves from the clutches of passion and the gratification it seeks in various ways. With all these, do they succeed in their ways? The answer is very clear. The subtle laws operating within Creation are too powerful to be flouted or overcome. Those of vicious resolve are led by its irresistible force. They get overpowered by mighty ambitions, and are thrown to abysmal depths of hell - the downfall human life courts on this earth! The wicked dig their own graves. It is their thoughts and actions that drive them to such a plight!

With vain glory and conceit, blinded by wealth and self-proclaimed respect, they ostensibly perform sacrifices only to show off, disregarding all rules and procedures.

Pride blinds the demonic nature beyond limits. Haughtiness, insatiable greed and unyielding infatuation become most pronounced in all they do. Money blinds their vision in every way. They think, speak and act without proportion or modesty. Vicious self-respect makes their ostentatious display repulsive. They take to the performance of religious sacrifices as well, aspiring to gain some respectable status, but in doing so, their ignorance and delusion grow stronger. They disregard the rules and procedures for the ceremonies and rituals. So, all that they do reduces into a mere mockery, incurring the dislike and disapproval of the good and the noble in the society. Thus in the secular and religious fronts alike, their conduct becomes equally detestable and harmful.

Given to egotism, power, arrogance, lust and anger, these jealous people deride and hate Me (the Supreme), residing in their own as well as others' bodies.

Can the intelligent humans be so self-destructive? The attitude and behaviour of the asura lot offer a full answer to the question! Bad qualities like egoism, blinding power and arrogance can drive one to any extent of viciousness. Lust and anger have untold power to steep the human mind into shocking cruelty and destruction. If these instigations are not checked, instead allowed to grow strong, nothing can arrest the havoc they work. Krishna gives a new dimension to the entire social perversions. He says the root cause for the whole malady is that these devious minds fail to understand that they are hating and harming the supreme Reality residing in their own as well as others' hearts. This one revelation should stir up their conscience against any kind of criminal misdeeds. For any vice, the true correction should come from one's own within.

I throw these hateful, cruel and inauspicious people, the vilest in the world, into the demonic wombs repeatedly.

Why should there be evil in the world and why should evil-mongers grow strong? What is the law in creation about this? The world any time is a collection of dvandvas, pairs of opposites. Good and virtue are thus juxtaposed with bad and vice to form the full societal structure. So, evil-mongers will be there, along with virtue-lovers. What happens to each is the point to be known and evaluated. Krishna says evil-mongers, when allowed to thrive, will surely muster akin minds. And together they will meet their plight. Proponents of evil will be allowed to grow, but led to evil wombs again and again, as that is the wicked and mischievous deserve. As they do what they relish, Nature too acts in its ways. Spiritual laws relating to the inner realm are even more relentless. Every act brings its destined outcome, ensuring the necessary balance and harmony!

These deluded ones, getting into āsura wombs birth after birth, do not reach Me (the Supreme), and sink into still inferior states, O son of Kunti.

Courting āsura wombs one after another, these deluded ones struggle hard to realize their external, material, physical ambitions. But it is a vicious circle, with no real satisfaction or conclusion. Their life remains distracted, not focussed. Sensory enjoyments only weaken the senses. There is nothing elevating and ennobling in them. None of the āsuric people comes to think of the supreme Reality. Sensory glamour and pomp alone rule their thoughts. For these people, instead of progressive evolution, their status sinks to the lowest. Earlier Krishna said about the proud advocates of Vedic rituals (2.42-44), who consider there is nothing superior. Having no discrimination to discern what Vedas truly reveal, they remain bogged down to the promised non-verifiable fruits of rituals. Attracted and deluded by enjoyment (bhoga), their intelligence does not become resolute. They too do not evolve, but their status is stagnant, cyclic. In the case of Asuras, they are not able to recognize the harm in their approach. Moreover, given to evil tendencies, they are driven to still inferior births.

Three-fold is this door to hell, which spells destruction to one. It consists of passion, anger and greed. Therefore, one should shun these three.

Krishna brings a new note to his discussion. He says hell is not a place of punishment, where people go after shedding their body, led by their evil deeds. All fictitious notions woven around such a hell are to be discarded. Experiential and interactional life is here on this earth, now. Virtue and sin are earned and incurred by our life and actions on earth. We create heaven and hell here itself by our virtues and vices. One has to win over passion, anger or wrath, and greed of the mind. If he does so, he avoids hell, and creates heaven. In other words, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa together spin and weave the hell here and now. With discretion, sublimate them by cultivating sattva-guṇa. Then you will enjoy heaven here undeterred. Think no further of hell or heaven in some other world. The seeker should have ample clarity in the matter.

O Kunti’s son (Arjuna), if one becomes free of these three gateways to hell (passion, anger and greed), he can pursue the auspicious path to felicity and attain the supreme Goal.

Krishna spoke extensively about the devilish tendencies working havoc in human life. However, it need not frighten or dissuade the discreet individual. All obstacles are in the mind, and one can overcome them by proper discretion and resolve. For anything and everything in one’s life, his own mind and its tendencies alone are responsible. If this basic understanding is nurtured early in life, one is sure to lead the benevolent path and attain the laudable goal. Once we heed the intelligence and its exhortation, life becomes safe, easy and natural. This is where human life distinguishes itself. One must learn to employ his viveka. Then he can work his way upward. How well has Krishna clarified that passion, anger and greed are the three gateways to hell! If with right discretion and resolve one strives to sublimate them, he can attain the supreme Goal. In this, scriptures and satsaṅga count the most.

Disregarding the scriptural injunctions, one who lives driven by desire and greed, does not attain perfection in anything. Neither does he gain happiness nor the supreme Goal.

Scriptures are the recorded utterances of the Seers and Knowers who lived long, long ago. They are like the voice of the Knowers present before us. Through scriptures, the Seers expose us to the complex nature of the world, and the art and science of living. The wisdom, strength, inspiration and guidance scriptures and satsanga (association with the Wise) provide are ineffably great and relevant. To live by oneself and gain all the insight and discrimination is impossible. So, the best way is to be guided by scriptures. They are a prehistoric rendering of our forefathers who studied the human personality and discovered the ultimate Truth. The wisdom and exhortation they shower are indescribably great and glorious. Not to heed what they say, and get overpowered by passion and prejudice, is to deny the sublimity and loftiness of human life, and be ruined. Any intelligent person should avoid such a grievous fate.

Therefore, scriptures (śāstras) are the guidelines for you to determine what is to be done and what not. You must take up activities only after knowing what the śāstras explain and exhort.

Krishna's elaborate description about the āsura tendencies and characteristics, is to caution every one about the pitfalls likely to occur while living in the world. The redress lies in getting exposed to śāstras, and adhering to what they state. Scriptures impart the art and science of interacting with the world in a manner that one gets enriched every time. To listen to scriptures is to be enlightened. They instil ethics of character, behaviour and interaction. Know the message of scriptures first by listening to the Wise. Then will you irresistibly be led to the right path and goal – a point that cannot be over-emphasized! Arjuna's discomfiture in Kurukshetra and keeping his bow and arrow down, insisting he would not fight, and Krishna providing him the right perception, is the best illustration for the relevance and role of scriptures in our life!