{"entry":{"slug":"bg-chapter-16","title":"Bhagavad Gīta Chapter 16 — Daivāsura-Sampada-vibhāga Yoga","devanagari":"दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोग","iast":"daivāsura-sampada-vibhāga-yoga","type":"bg-chapter","url":"https://thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-16/","codex":"sanatana-dharma","last_verified":"2026-05","confidence":"high"},"chapter":{"number":16,"name":"Daivāsura-sampada-vibhāga-yoga","name_translation":"The Yoga of the Distinction of the Divine and Demonic Endowments","verses":24,"speaker_primary":"Kṛṣṇa (throughout)","key_verses":["16.1–16.3","16.4","16.5","16.8","16.21","16.23–16.24"]},"summary":"The Gīta's ethical diagnostic chapter. Twenty-six divine qualities (daivī sampad, BG 16.1–16.3) lead toward liberation; the demonic endowment (āsurī sampad, BG 16.4) leads toward bondage. BG 16.5: 'Do not grieve, O Pāṇḍava — you are born to the divine endowment.' BG 16.8: the demonic worldview — 'the world has no foundation, no God, no order; only desire.' BG 16.21: the threefold gate to hell = desire (kāma), anger (krodha), greed (lobha). BG 16.23–16.24: scripture (Śāstra) as the corrective authority for action.","twenty_six_divine_qualities":{"ref":"BG 16.1–16.3","qualities":["abhayam — fearlessness","sattva-saṃśuddhi — purity of being","jñāna-yoga-vyavasthiti — steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga","dānam — charity","damaḥ — self-restraint","yajña — sacrifice","svādhyāya — study","tapaḥ — austerity","ārjavam — uprightness","ahiṃsā — non-violence","satyam — truth","akrodha — absence of anger","tyāga — renunciation","śānti — tranquillity","apaiśunam — absence of slander","dayā — compassion for all beings","alolupatvam — freedom from covetousness","mārdavam — gentleness","hrīḥ — modesty","acāpalam — absence of fickleness","tejas — vigour","kṣamā — patience","dhṛti — fortitude","śaucam — purity","adroha — absence of malice","nātimānitā — absence of excessive pride"]},"demonic_qualities":{"ref":"BG 16.4","core":["dambha — ostentation","darpa — arrogance","abhimāna — excessive pride","krodha — anger","pāruṣya — harshness","ajñāna — ignorance"],"extended_worldview":"BG 16.8: world has no foundation, no God, no order — arises from mutual union, caused only by desire. BG 16.13–16.15: demonic interior monologue — 'This I have gained; this I shall get; I am the lord; I am the enjoyer; I am powerful, happy, noble.' BG 16.16–16.18: deluded by many cravings; caught in snares of delusion; fallen into foul hells; full of vanity; sacrificing in name only."},"key_verses_detail":{"BG_16_5":{"note":"'Daivī sampad — liberation; āsurī sampad — bondage. Do not grieve, O Pāṇḍava — you are born to the divine endowment.' Kṛṣṇa's reassurance to Arjuna before the full analysis."},"BG_16_21":{"devanagari":"त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः / कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत्","iast":"tri-vidhaṃ narakasyedaṃ dvāraṃ nāśanam ātmanaḥ / kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobhas tasmād etat trayaṃ tyajet","translation":"This threefold gate of hell, destructive to the self — is desire, anger, and greed. Therefore one should abandon these three.","note":"The three form a sequence: unmet desire → anger; anger + attachment → greed; greed → further desire. They constitute the internal mechanism of the demonic descent. Previously named in BG 3.37 (desire and anger as enemies born of Rajas)."},"BG_16_23_24":{"iast_23":"yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ / na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṃ na parāṃ gatim","translation":"One who abandons scriptural injunction and acts under impulse of desire attains neither perfection, happiness, nor the highest goal. (16.23)","iast_24":"tasmāc chāstraṃ pramāṇaṃ te kāryākārya-vyavasthitau","translation":"Therefore let the scripture be your authority in determining what should be done and what should not. (16.24)","note":"Scripture (Śāstra) as the corrective for desire-driven action. Sets up BG 17 — the three types of faith and their relationship to scripture."}},"gunas_and_endowments":"The twenty-six divine qualities are expressions of Sattva predominating. The demonic qualities (ostentation, arrogance, anger, harshness, ignorance) are expressions of Rajas and Tamas predominating. Ch.16's moral taxonomy is Ch.14's Guṇa analysis applied to character and fundamental orientation.","demonic_metaphysics":"BG 16.8's naming of a false metaphysics as the root of the demonic trajectory is philosophically significant: the demonic orientation is not merely selfish but false — denying cosmic order (Ṛta, Dharma), divine governance, karmic causation. When one believes the universe has no Dharma, desire alone becomes the rational governing principle.","sources":[{"tier":1,"citation":"BG 16.1–16.24 with Śaṅkara Gītābhāṣya · Gambhirananda (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 637–662"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 373–392"}],"navigation":{"previous":{"chapter":15,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-15/","name":"Puruṣottama Yoga"},"next":{"chapter":17,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-17/","name":"Śraddhā-traya-vibhāga Yoga","status":"coming-soon"}},"provenance":{"confidence":"high","last_verified":"2026-05","citation":"\"BG Chapter 16 — Sanātana Dharma Codex\", thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-16/, last updated May 2026."}}