The Bhagavad Gita · chapter 16 of 18 · 24 verses · हिंदी में पढ़ें
16. The Yoga of the Divine and the Demonic Natures
Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yoga (दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोग)
character
Summary
Krishna lists the divine qualities: fearlessness, purity of mind, charity, self-control, sacrifice, study, austerity, straightforwardness, non-violence, truthfulness, absence of anger, renunciation, peace, absence of fault-finding, compassion, gentleness, modesty, steadiness. And the demonic: ostentation, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, ignorance. The chapter is unusually direct: three are the gates of hell — lust, anger, greed. Renounce these three.
Key teaching
The Gita does not pretend everyone is on the path. It distinguishes characters honestly. The point is not to identify enemies; it is to identify which of these qualities is dominant in you, and to feed the divine ones while starving the demonic ones — daily, by attention.
Modern application — what to do today because of this
Pick the demonic quality currently strongest in your week (lust, anger, greed, arrogance, harshness — be honest). Do not try to crush it. Just choose the opposite virtue from the divine list (charity for greed, gentleness for harshness, patience for anger) and practise it once a day. Character is built one specific opposite at a time.
Famous verses from this chapter