← The Codex·Bhagavad Gīta
Learn Texts Concepts Darśanas Deities Mantras History ← The Codex
The Codex› Sanātana Dharma› Bhagavad Gīta› Chapter 16
Last verified:
Bhagavad Gīta · Chapter 16 of 18
Chapter 16 · 24 verses
दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोग

Daivāsura-Sampada-vibhāga Yoga

The Yoga of the Distinction of the Divine and Demonic Endowments. Chapter 16 is the Gīta's ethical diagnostic chapter. Twenty-six divine qualities (daivī sampad) are listed (BG 16.1–16.3); the demonic temperament is analysed in detail; and BG 16.21 names the threefold gate to hell: desire (kāma), anger (krodha), and greed (lobha).

Sanskrit name: Daivāsura-sampada-vibhāga-yoga
Verses: 24
Speaker: Kṛṣṇa (throughout)
Key verses: 16.1–16.3, 16.4, 16.21, 16.23–16.24
Chapter Summary
Chapter 16 provides a moral taxonomy of two fundamental orientations: the divine endowment (daivī sampad) — the cluster of qualities that lead toward liberation — and the demonic endowment (āsurī sampad) — the cluster that leads toward bondage. Kṛṣṇa opens with twenty-six divine qualities (BG 16.1–16.3) and then turns to the demonic temperament's characteristics and worldview (BG 16.7–16.20). BG 16.21 names the three root causes of this downward trajectory: desire, anger, and greed — the threefold gate to hell. The chapter closes with the importance of scripture as the authority for action, not personal whim.
Name: Daivāsura-sampada-vibhāga-yoga — the yoga of distinguishing the divine and demonic endowments. Daivī = divine; āsurī = demonic (from asura = the anti-gods); sampad = endowment, wealth, possession; vibhāga = distinction, distribution. The chapter analyses which endowment is present in a given orientation — which set of qualities characterises a person's fundamental relationship to existence.
Chapter 16 maps two fundamental human orientations — the divine endowment (leading toward liberation) and the demonic endowment (leading toward bondage) — and identifies desire, anger, and greed as the threefold gate through which a person descends from the divine toward the demonic.

The divine and demonic endowments compared

Daivī Sampad — Divine Endowment

BG 16.1–16.3 — twenty-six qualities:

Fearlessness (abhayam) · Purity of being (sattva-saṃśuddhi) · Steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga (jñāna-yoga-vyavasthiti) · Charity (dānam) · Self-restraint (damaḥ) · Sacrifice (yajña) · Study (svādhyāya) · Austerity (tapaḥ) · Uprightness (ārjavam) · Non-violence (ahiṃsā) · Truth (satyam) · Absence of anger (akrodha) · Renunciation (tyāga) · Tranquillity (śānti) · Absence of slander (apaiśunam) · Compassion for all beings (dayā) · Freedom from covetousness (alolupatvam) · Gentleness (mārdavam) · Modesty (hrīḥ) · Absence of fickleness (acāpalam) · Vigour (tejas) · Patience (kṣamā) · Fortitude (dhṛti) · Purity (śaucam) · Absence of malice (adroha) · Absence of excessive pride (nātimānitā)

Āsurī Sampad — Demonic Endowment

BG 16.4 — the core qualities:

Ostentation (dambha) · Arrogance (darpa) · Excessive pride (abhimāna) · Anger (krodha) · Harshness (pāruṣya) · Ignorance (ajñāna)

BG 16.7–16.20 — the demonic worldview in detail: do not know what should be done or what should be avoided; no purity, no right conduct, no truth; believe the world has no foundation, no God, no order — arises only from mutual union; driven by insatiable desire; pursuing power, pleasure, and pride; convinced the universe revolves around them; arrogant, self-intoxicated, full of vanity, performing sacrifices in name only, driven by ego.

BG 16.1–16.20. Gambhirananda (trans.), pp. 637–656.

BG 16.21 — the threefold gate to hell

BG 16.21 — The three roots of the demonic descent
त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः
tri-vidhaṃ narakasyedaṃ dvāraṃ nāśanam ātmanaḥ
"This threefold gate of hell — destructive to the self —"
कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत्
kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobhas tasmād etat trayaṃ tyajet
"— is desire, anger, and greed. Therefore one should abandon these three."
The three are not randomly chosen. They form a sequence: unmet desire generates anger; anger, when combined with attachment to what one already has, generates greed; greed drives further desire. Together they constitute the internal mechanism of the demonic descent. Each of the three has appeared earlier in the Gīta: desire and anger in BG 3.37 (born of Rajas, the great enemies); greed as a partner of desire throughout. BG 16.21 names them together as the entry point — the gate — through which a being moves from the divine toward the demonic.
BG 16.5 — Kṛṣṇa's reassurance Before turning to the full analysis of the demonic endowment, Kṛṣṇa adds a brief personal note: "The divine endowment is for liberation; the demonic for bondage. Do not grieve, O Pāṇḍava — you are born to the divine endowment" (BG 16.5). The reassurance is pointed: Arjuna may have feared, after hearing the catalogue of demonic qualities, that he might possess some. Kṛṣṇa settles the matter directly — Arjuna belongs to the divine endowment. The instruction is for Arjuna's benefit as a listener, but for the reader, the divine catalogue (BG 16.1–16.3) is the aspiration; the demonic catalogue is the diagnostic.
← Chapter 15
Chapter 16 of 18 · Bhagavad Gīta
Chapter 17 →

Related

← Chapter 15 Dharma Ahiṃsā Karma Mokṣa Guṇa (Sattva/Rajas/Tamas)

The demonic worldview — BG 16.8–16.18

Chapter 16's most striking section is its diagnosis of the demonic worldview — not just its behaviours but its metaphysics. BG 16.8: "They say the world has no foundation, no God, no order — it arises from mutual union alone, caused by nothing other than desire." This is the worldview that denies cosmic order (ṛta), denies God (Īśvara), denies karmic causation — and substitutes only appetite. BG 16.9: clinging to this false view, these beings, with small intellects and fierce deeds, arise as enemies for the destruction of the world. The demonic orientation is not merely selfish; in its logical extension, it becomes destructive of the order that makes existence possible.

BG 16.13–16.15 continues with the demonic interior monologue: "This I have gained today; this I shall get tomorrow; this wealth is mine now and this too will be mine — that enemy has been slain by me and others too I shall slay — I am the lord; I am the enjoyer; I am successful, powerful, and happy — I am noble; who else is like me?" The portrait is of ego at its most contracted and most deluded.

BG 16.8–16.18. Gambhirananda (trans.), pp. 645–655.

BG 16.23–16.24 — scripture as authority

BG 16.23–16.24 — The authority of the Śāstra
yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ / na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṃ na parāṃ gatim
"One who, having abandoned the injunction of scripture, acts under the impulse of desire — that person attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the highest goal." (16.23)
tasmāc chāstraṃ pramāṇaṃ te kāryākārya-vyavasthitau / jñātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaṃ karma kartum ihārhasi
"Therefore let the scripture be your authority in determining what should be done and what should not be done. Having understood the injunction of scripture, you should perform action here." (16.24)
The chapter closes with an appeal to scriptural authority as the corrective for the demonic tendency to act on personal desire alone. The Śāstra (scripture, authoritative teaching) represents the accumulated wisdom of the tradition about what conduces to Dharma and what destroys it. Acting from personal desire alone — without this check — is, the chapter argues, the characteristic of the demonic endowment. The counter-instruction: let scripture be your measure. This sets up Chapter 17, which will examine the three types of faith — Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic — and how they relate to scripture.
← Chapter 15
Chapter 16 of 18 · Bhagavad Gīta
Chapter 17 →

Related

← Chapter 15 Dharma Ahiṃsā Guṇa Karma

BG 16.1–16.3 — the twenty-six divine qualities in context

The twenty-six divine qualities of BG 16.1–16.3 form the most comprehensive ethical catalogue in the Gīta, covering the full range of what the tradition calls Dharmic virtue. Several of the qualities appear elsewhere in the Gīta: non-violence (ahiṃsā) in BG 10.5 (among the Vibhūtis) and in the concept entry /sanatana-dharma/concepts/ahimsa/; truth (satyam) throughout; absence of anger (akrodha) in BG 2.56; tranquillity (śānti) in BG 2.71; steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga in BG 2.53; fearlessness (abhayam) in BG 12.15; gentleness (mārdavam) in BG 13.7. Chapter 16 brings these scattered qualities together into a single integrated portrait of the divinely-endowed person.

The relationship between these qualities and the Guṇas: all twenty-six are expressions of Sattva predominating. The demonic qualities of BG 16.4 (ostentation, arrogance, anger, harshness, ignorance) are expressions of Rajas and Tamas predominating. Chapter 16's moral taxonomy is, at one level, the Chapter 14 Guṇa analysis applied to the domain of character and orientation.

The demonic denial of Dharma — a philosophical note

BG 16.8's description of the demonic worldview ("no foundation, no God, no order — only desire and mutual union") is philosophically striking because it names a metaphysical error as the root of the demonic trajectory. The demonic orientation is not merely selfish (desiring more than one's share) — it is false (believing in a universe with no order). When one believes the universe has no Dharma, no karmic causation, no divine order — then desire alone becomes the rational governing principle, because there is no other principle to appeal to. The Gīta's counter-claim: the universe does have order (Ṛta, Dharma), and acting in alignment with that order is what constitutes the divine endowment.

BG 16.8. Gambhirananda (trans.), pp. 647–649. Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 381–383.

Primary Sources for Chapter 16 BG Chapter 16 complete (24 verses) — Gambhirananda trans. (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 637–662. Śaṅkara on BG 16.1–16.3 (divine qualities); 16.8 (demonic metaphysics); 16.21 (threefold gate to hell); 16.23–16.24 (scripture as authority). Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 373–392.
← Chapter 15
Chapter 16 of 18 · Bhagavad Gīta
Chapter 17 →

Related

← Chapter 15 Dharma Ṛta Ahiṃsā Guṇa Karma

Provenance & Citation

Entry type
BG chapter entry (triple format)
Chapter
BG 16: Daivāsura-sampada-vibhāga-yoga · 24 verses
Confidence
High — Tier 1 (Gambhirananda + Śaṅkara); Tier 2 (Zaehner 1969)
Contested areas
The interpretation of BG 16.8 (denial of cosmic order — whether this refers to specific philosophical schools or to a general orientation); the universality of the divine-demonic taxonomy vs its Varṇa-specific application
Last reviewed
Cite as
"BG Chapter 16 — Sanātana Dharma Codex", thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-16/, last updated May 2026.

Sources used on this page

  1. Tier 1 — Primary text + commentary: Bhagavad Gīta 16.1–16.24 with Śaṅkara's Gītābhāṣya · trans. Swami Gambhirananda (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 637–662
  2. Tier 2 — Academic: R. C. Zaehner (trans. and notes), The Bhagavad-Gītā (Oxford University Press, 1969), pp. 373–392