Chapter 16The Divine and the Demoniac Natures DefinedVerse 7

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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

Those of demoniac nature do not know how to perform righteous actions neither do they know how to refrain from unrighteous activities. Therefore Lord Krishna discloses that they are completely void of any purity, righteous behaviour and truthfulness.

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:


Madhvacarya

Madhvacarya's Commentary

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya:


Ramanuja

Ramanuja's Commentary

The word pravritti is the performance of proper actions which means engaging in Vedically authorised activities as dharma or righteousness which leads to realms of spiritual beatitude and moksa or liberation from material existence. Nivrriti is refraining from engaging in activities which lead to bondage. The demons known also as asuras meaning those without spiritual illumination and lack of spiritual insight have no scope for fathoming spiritual principles. Saucam means cleanliness both internally and externally. The demons are always polluted by their depraved thoughts and contaminated by their degraded actions and hence never clean.

Acharya means exemplary behaviour and excellent conduct such as performing japa or repetitively chanting Lord Krishna's holy names or sankirtan congregationally chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Also always observing ekadasi which is fasting from all grains and beans on the 11th day of the waxing and waning moons and the daily performance of sandhya vandana which is gayatri mantras given by the spiritual master that are chanted silently at the three junctures of the day: dawn, noon and dusk. The Daksa-smritti beginning sandhya hinot suci nityam states: One who omits the performance of sandhya is always impure, unholy and unfit for any spiritual duties. The word satyam means truth and denotes that which is spoken or written in total conformity with factual reality. Such qualities as these have never been heard of or seen to be present in those of demoniac nature.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:


Nimbaditya

Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary

Those of demoniac nature includes devils and demons. What is privritti or right actions such jivas or embodied beings cannot comprehend. Hence out of the four goals of life they are only able to achieve two: kama which is lust for sense gratification and artha which is greed for wealth and positions of great power. But they are unable to achieve dharma which is righteous propriety and without dharma it is impossible to attain moksa or liberation from material existence. This is because the demoniac are unable to understand nivritti which is the cessation of material activities for the benefit of spiritual activities and such renunciation is the path leading to moksa. As the demoniac do not possess purity internally or externally they are never qualified to perform spiritual activities and so the demoniac resort to diabolically, degraded activities with discarnate ghosts, spirits and demons involving blood sacrifices, torture and death which do not depend upon inner and outer purity to receive their decadent results. Contrarily those of the divine nature have no desire to enjoy the results of worship because it is offered for the sublime satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His authorised incarnations as revealed in Vedic scriptures and is a pure offering of devotion to Him. But the demoniac conduct their depraved, diabolical rituals explicitly for physical, personal and material gain for themselves and the resultant karma or the corresponding reactions to previous actions sinks them deeper and deeper into lower and lower degraded forms of material existence birth after birth.

The demoniac are completely oblivious to the knowledge which would frees them from the enslavement of samsara the perpetual cycle of birth and death due to ignorance of spiritual knowledge that lead to moksa. The demoniac are vile, impure, perverse, cruel, diabolical, untruthful, untrustworthy, bereft of all righteousness and evil. Those jivas possessing such qualities are to be known irrefutably as demons.

Thus ends commentaries of chapter 16, verse 7 of the Srimad Bhagavad-Gita.

Verse 7


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