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Study a Verse
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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 16.5
दैवी सम्पद्विमोक्षाय निबन्धायासुरी मता ।
मा शुच: सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातोऽसि पाण्डव ॥ ५ ॥
daivī sampad vimokṣāya
nibandhāyāsurī matā
mā śucaḥ sampadaṁ daivīm
abhijāto ’si pāṇḍava
The transcendental qualities are conducive to liberation, whereas the demoniac qualities make for bondage. Do not worry, O son of Pāṇḍu, for you are born with the divine qualities.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
Divine qualities lead to liberation; demoniac qualities bring bondage. Kṛṣṇa assures Arjuna that he has divine qualities.
Prabhupāda explains that Arjuna carefully considered his duty to fight, rather than acting from anger, false pride or harshness.
Follow the prescribed rules and duties of your order of life to be spiritually situated.
Destiny of divine and demoniac
Saintly qualities lead to liberation and demoniac qualities lead to bondage
Krishna encourages Arjuna that he is born of saintly qualities and his fighting is not demoniac
On what basis Krishna considers that Arjuna is born of saintly qualities and his fighting is not demoniac
Because Arjuna considers the pros and cons
e.g. Arjuna considered whether respectable persons like Bhisma and Drona should be killed or not
To perform the regulative principles of different orders of life is transcendental action
For a ksatriya shooting arrows at the enemy is considered transcendental and not doing so is demoniac
Texts 16.4 & 16.5
Krishna next removes Arjuna’s doubt about whether his own
participation in the battle as a warrior — and therefore as a killer – will be due to possessing a demoniac temperament
Moral reassurance
Krishna first describes the twenty-six divine qualities
Then He mentions the six demoniac qualities
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Divine character
Krishna reassures Arjuna about his divine qualities.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What qualities am I strengthening through my present choices?
Identify a divine quality and practice it in a specific relationship.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.