Commentary on the Bhagavadgita : 31- Swami Krishnananda.

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Friday, April 29, 2022. 05:00.

Discourse 44:  The Sixteenth Chapter Begins – 

Divine and Undivine Qualities

POST-31.

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We are now in the Sixteenth Chapter, which is called the chapter that distinguishes between qualities that are divine and qualities that are not divine. The description is mostly from the point of view of an ethical distinction in order to determine what is divine and what is undivine, but it is based on the final goal of life that is described in the earlier chapters.

The goodness or the badness of a particular quality or action, the divinity or the demoniacal nature of any behaviour, cannot be asserted entirely by social standards. They become acceptable or not acceptable on account of their relevance to the ultimate goal of life. If there is total harmony and relevance with the final attainment, that attitude, that conduct, that behaviour, that thought and feeling will be considered as holy, divine, ethical and moral. But if there is behaviour which is opposed to the consciousness of the ultimate goal of life by encouraging attachment, egoism, possessiveness, cruelty and associated qualities, then it becomes unethical, immoral, bad, ugly, undivine.

Śrībhagavānuvāca. Here in these few chapters, the Lord speaks without being questioned. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Chapters all consist of direct speaking without any interruption or query from Arjuna.

The divine qualities are actually the qualities of what we call goodness—appreciable, noteworthy, and polished, gentlemanly qualities. They are listed here in a few verses:

abhayaṁ sattvasaṁśuddhir jñānayogavyavasthitiḥ

dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam (16.1)

ahiṁsā satyam akrodhas tyāgaḥ śāntir apaiśunam

dayā bhūteṣualoluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīr acāpalam (16.2)

tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucam adroho nātimānitā

bhavanti saṁpadaṁ daivīm abhijātasya bhārata (16.3)

Abhayaṁ is an inward feeling of fearlessness born of inner contentment. People with wants of every kind are afraid of so many things. Fearlessness is a quality of desirelessness.

Sattvasaṁśuddhiḥ is the manifestation of the sattva guna, resulting in clarity of perception, radiance in the face, and inward satiety.

Jñānayogavyavasthitiḥ is an intense aspiration to get established in the yoga of the wisdom of God.

Dānaṁ is a charitable nature, a giving nature, large-heartedness, not a selfish nature.

Damaḥ is the restraint of the organs of knowledge as well as the organs of action.

Yajñaḥ ca is a daily consciousness of it being necessary for us to adore gods, the divinities superintending over the cosmos, by external ritualistic sacrifice as well as internal sacrifice that is described in the Fourth Chapter, to which you may revert for brushing up your memory.

Svādhyāyaḥ is daily sacred study of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Gita or any holy scripture in order to enable lofty thoughts in the mind—without which, the mind will think of dirt and stink and very low things of the world on account of the strength of the activity of the sense organs. To prevent one's subjection to sensory demands and the evaluation of things in terms of the sense organs, the study of sacred scriptures—which are the words of the saints, sages, prophets and incarnations—will be of great assistance.

Tapaḥ means austerity. It also means mental and sensory control—the ability not to allow the energy of the system to leak out through the apertures of the sense organs, and conservation of energy in oneself. This, essentially, is tapaḥ.

Ᾱrjavam is straightforwardness. We should not say something, do another thing, and think a third thing altogether; that is crookedness. Actually, we should speak what we think, and behave in that manner. That is what is called straightforwardness—ārjava.

Ahiṁsa is the extending of harmlessness and fearlessness to all living beings. No injury can come from us, and no living being need fear us. We are a source of fearlessness, harmlessness; this is ahiṁsa. It is also truthfulness, because untruth is resorted to only when we want to exploit people. As exploitation is not an acceptable or a good quality, it is very clear that untruth—that which is contrary to truth—is not a divine or a virtuous quality.

To be continued ....

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