Chapter
16: The Divine and Demoniacal
Traits
The Lord now began to narrate the
different divine traits. He said that fearlessness, purity of intellect, being
established in yoga of knowledge or jnana, charity, controlling of senses,
sacrifices, study of the scriptures, ascetic practices, transparency and
honesty, non violence, Truth, controlling passions like anger, renunciation,
peace, aversion to fault finding, compassion in all beings, absence of greed,
gentleness, modesty, determination, vigor, mercy, fortitude, purity, freedom
from envy, freedom from egoism, are the different divine characters.
Pride, egotism, conceit, anger, cruelty, ignorance are the demoniac
traits.
Sri Krishna
said, “The divine traits liberate while the demoniac ones bind.” As if to
reassure Arjuna on this front, the
Lord further added, “Do not worry oh Pandava, you have been born with divine
traits. There are two types of created beings – daiva and
asura, the divine and the demoniacs. I have spoken enough about the
divine traits. Now hear about the demoniac traits (so that you stay free from
them).”
The demoniacal persons do not know where to draw a line between
engaging in pleasures and refraining from them, i.e. their enjoyment and
attachment to sense pleasures know no bound. They do not have purity (internal
and external), nor do they adhere to ritualistic disciplines (like performing
the sacrifices necessary for a householder), nor do they adhere to truth.
They are established in untruth and think that the world is devoid
of any Supreme Being, i.e. they are non believers. The world according to them
is driven by sensual pleasures and materialism. Desire is the essence which
drives their world.
With such a (skewed) viewpoint, such disruptors of the world peace,
out of limited intellect and foolish understanding, accomplish great evil. Out
of pride, vanity and egotism, being deluded by big desires and lust (for name,
fame, power and fortune), such unholy ones take to accomplish evil
works.
Many such souls have been known in the history of mankind
who have perpetrated extreme violence out of their lust for power and fame,
killed and conquered many, but ultimately they all have been lost in the vortex
of time. Their infamy lasted but not their works. Extreme lust and desire is
thus a key demoniacal trait. Such persons are also devoid of any regard for God.
Even those who profess to believe in Him do not know Him in the true sense as
they subscribe only to some sectarian dogmas in most cases and therefore do not
hesitate to eliminate others who do not believe in such dogmas. In reality they
follow their own egos although they profess to believe in God, because they want
everybody else to believe in their own ideology.
They have many worries which they nourish until their deaths. They
are attached to sense enjoyments and know nothing beyond material world. They
are bound by many wrong doings, being wrathful and lustful. They always wish to
earn fortune for satiating their lust, even by unjust means.
“This is what I get today; this is how I shall fulfill my desire.
This I have, I’ll obtain this other one (by unfair means). That enemy has been
destroyed by me; I’ll destroy others as well. I am the Lord, the enjoyer, the
successful, the powerful, the happy one.” These are some of the thoughts of the
person of such traits. They are selfish and greedy. They do not know anything
beyond satisfying their own ego and greed, increasing their own power and wealth
and adding to their name and fame.
“I have many relations, who is there in the world like me? I shall
perform sacrifices (for showing off), I shall donate (out of egoism and contempt
for others), I shall enjoy (for eternity).” These are some of the notions that a
person of demoniac trait wrongfully possess. He is deluded by his many thoughts
as the lust drives him to think of many plans to satisfy his selfish desires,
thereby increasing his worries and anxieties (when the desires remain
unfulfilled or they are obstructed). They are extremely attached to lustful
enjoyments and thereby suffer in hell.
The minds of such persons are veritable hell. They suffer on
account of their own actions. A thief or a murderer cannot be in peace, because
his sense of guilt and fear will drive him unconsciously. He is always afraid of
getting caught, of losing everything. Similarly a person with many evil thoughts
and deeds is never in peace. He is always afraid, lest he should lose all his
wealth and power as he has many enemies. Sensory enjoyments are fleeting and can
bring him momentary pleasure but they are all lost once they end and such a
person looks for more enjoyments. He is never satisfied as desire cannot be
quenched by the fulfillment of desire. Just as the fire always gets bigger when
fuel is added to it, desire increases in proportion to the enjoyments. So also
the avarice and greed increase in proportion to the possessions.
They are obsessed with themselves, are vain, engrossed with their
material possessions and think highly of themselves, their fame and wealth. Even
when they perform sacrifices, they do it for the sake of name only, i.e. never
appreciate the true spirit of sacrifices. Through sacrifices they only want
greater power, greater name and fame and they do not care to follow the
injunctions of the scriptures (Vedas).
Egotism, might, pride, lust, wrath etc. are their chief
characteristics. They injure the Supreme Lord as the Self dwelling in other
bodies out of spite, through their hatred and violent acts on others.
Since they cannot see beyond fulfilling their
own selfish interests and desires, they are contemptuous about others who are
not their favorites. They neither respect nor pay homage to those who are
honest, truthful and virtuous. Therefore they actually deride God who is the
personification of Truth, justice and honesty and virtue.
Sri Krishna
said, “I throw such hateful and sinful, the wretches of the three worlds, among
the demoniac creations time and again. Such demons and deluded souls, fail to
get Me in successive births and thereby wander in the world, suffering from
miseries, death and decay.”
God is not vengeful. On the contrary He is the epitome of
compassion. Even though the above assertion looks like a wrathful statement and
leads one to wonder about God’s intention, in actual practice what He means is
that the karma or the actions of the demoniac lead them to hellish
conditions. They suffer on account of their own work, not because God is angry.
They suffer in order that they are cleansed of the accumulated dirt as suffering
and misery can quickly lead to redemption. Their pride and ego take a beating
and thus in a later life the manifestation of divinity in them becomes greater.
Such miserable condition is thus a necessary prescription for evolving from a
demon to a demigod. The demonic traits are like dirt on the clear mirror of the
Self. Unless that dirt is removed using the cleansing agent called misery and
sorrow, the inner divinity cannot manifest itself.
The Lord further added that there are three types of gateways to
hell in the world – Lust, Anger and Greed. Therefore one needs to keep away from
these three. Free from such dark passions, men of good nature perform great
activities and therefore attain the highest ends. Those who, out of desire and
lust disregard the scriptural injunctions, they neither have happiness nor do
they attain the higher states. Therefore one should always perform acts in
consonance with the injunctions of the scriptures which clearly delineate
between what are to be done and what are not to be done.
Scriptures are guidebooks in the path of virtue. One who
disregards scriptures because of arrogance naturally falls prey to evil
tendencies and therefore forsakes virtue. All scriptures for instance agree on
virtuous actions – non violence, absence of anger, jealousy, hatred, leading a
moral and ideal life, looking after old and sick, taking care of the society,
selfless actions, being satisfied with legally earned wealth etc. People of
demoniac tendencies however disregard most or all of these injunctions as they
follow only their own ego. Thus in consequence they suffer. Those who, however,
follow such an ideal life, attain the highest ends. Arjuna, out of pity, was
about to forsake his duty which has been laid down by the scriptures, that of
fighting the enemy who has taken his belongings. If he gave in to his impulses
(of pity) he would be performing a demoniac act, even though he himself is of
divine quality. Therefore the Lord made him aware of the shortcomings of the
desire that he was cherishing.
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