Chapter 16The Divine and the Demoniac Natures DefinedVerse 6

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Anvaya

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Commentaries of the Four Authorized Vaisnava Sampradayas

as confirmed in the Garga Samhita Canto 10, Chapter 61, Verses 23, 24, 25, 26
Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya:


Visnuswami

Sridhara Swami's Commentary

In order to emphatically emphasise that the demoniac nature should always be avoided and rejected Lord Krishna reiterates that there are two only types of created beings: Those that are of the divine nature and those that are of the demoniac nature. The demoniac possess fiendishly, diabolical, perverted mentalities and inanely and futilely attempt to usurp the power of the Supreme Lord for their own degraded designations. Such demoniac nature will be described and delineated in detail in the next 12 verses.

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:


Madhvacarya

Madhvacarya's Commentary

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya:


Ramanuja

Ramanuja's Commentary

The material world is the place where actions are performed and subsequent karma or reactions to actions are created. Created beings who are of the divine nature engage in activities that are of a divine nature and created beings that are of the demoniac nature engage in activities of a demoniac nature. From their very birth it has been predetermined from the merits and demerits accumulated in unlimited past life activities whether or not a jiva or embodied being is of the divine nature following the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures and devoted to the Supreme Lord Krishna or is of the demoniac nature, belligerent and antagonistic to the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures which compassionately guide all of creation and opposed to Lord Krishna. Those of the divine nature have been described at length and are the aspirants who strive and endeavour to follow the path of the Supreme Lord engaging in yoga or the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciousness by karma or selfless actions, jnana or knowledge of self-realisation and bhakti or exclusive loving devotion unto the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His authorised incarnations and expansions as revealed in Vedic scriptures. Next the demoniac will also be described in length, illustrating what they were born for and how they behave.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:


Nimbaditya

Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary

If one were to argue why devilish properties are included within the demoniac nature then the conclusion would have to be that it is so because devilish properties can never be considered as part of the divine nature. The Brihadaranyaka Upanisad V.I.I beginning trayah prajapatyah prajapatau pitari states: Brahma created the divine beings, demoniac beings and humans. Since humans are mentioned separately in which category are they situated in? To clarify this point clearly Lord Krishna explains that in the worlds of mortals there are only two types of beings. The divine and the demoniac. The qualities and attributes of the divine have been described in detail in chapters seven, nine and twelve. The thirteenth chapter examined the 24 virtues beginning with amanitvam or humility which are all part of the divine nature. The fourteenth chapter disclosed the characteristics of a person who has transcended the effects of the gunas or three modes of material nature. The fifteenth continued the instructions with freedom from pride and infatuation in verse 5 and in verse one of this chapter Lord Krishna concludes the theme with 26 virtues beginning with the word abhayam meaning fearlessness due to knowing the atma or immortal soul is eternal and can never be destroyed. Thus the divine nature has been extensively elaborated and elucidated.

Now Lord Krishna discloses the characteristics and behaivior of those who follow the demoniac nature. The particle eva meaning only is inserted to dissect the fact that devils are included among the demoniac. In each day of Brahma creation commences which exists for 4 billion 320 million years and accounts for the 43,200,000 births every human has based on a 100 year life cycle. At the beginning of every creation humans are born of two types: the divine and the demoniac. They are precisely sorted out and tabulated according to their previous righteous actions which gives merit and their previous unrighteous actions which gives demerit; that a jiva or embodied being performed accumulatively in the previous creation along with the merits and demerits tabulated according to what food they consumed because reactions are incurred in this as well. This is known as karma or reactions to the actions that one physically engaged themselves in their previous lifespan and this karma precisely determines the nature of their next birth. Humans born of the divine nature performed meritorious activities of righteousness in the previous creation attuning themselves to the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures and worship of the Supreme Lord. Such a human is inherently graced by the Supreme Lord with a tendency towards righteousness and godliness possessing such virtues as humility, compassion, self-restraint, etc. Contrarily humans born of the demoniac nature performed degraded and degenerated activities in the previous creation availing themselves to diabolically opposing the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures and fiendishly blaspheming righteousness and the factual reality of the Supreme Lord. Such a human is invariably drawn to the unbridled lust of passion and the deepest darkness of ignorance possessing such characteristics as violence, perversion, cruelty and evil. Hence such humans are known as demons.

As is stated in the Mukta Parva section of the Mahabharata. Only by the grace of the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His authorised incarnations as authorised in Vedic scriptures does a jiva or embodied become endowed with sattva guna the mode of goodness gain association with a spiritual preceptor and develop devotion to the Supreme Lord. If a jiva worshipping Brahma receives the grace of Brahma then they become endowed with raja guna the mode of passion. If a jiva worshipping Shiva is graced by Shiva then they become endowed with tama guna the mode of ignorance.

Thus ends commentaries of chapter 16, verse 6 of the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita.

Verse 6


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