Chapter 16 divides human character into two dispositions — the daivi sampad and the asuri sampad — and lists twenty-six qualities for the first, beginning with fearlessness. But the chapter's real power is in what it does with the second. Instead of describing the demonic disposition, Krishna quotes it, in the first person, for three consecutive verses: this I have gained today, this I shall obtain, that enemy I have slain and the others I shall slay, who else is equal to me? It is a portrait built entirely out of the subject's own speech, and it ends with the Gita's most quoted warning about the three gates.
📘 Chapter 16 at a Glance
Name: Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga
Meaning: The Divine and the Demonic
Verses: 24
Section: Chapters 13-18 - the Jnana shatka, on the relation between them - asi
Source: Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva
📑 Table of Contents
📖 About This Chapter
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chapter | 16 of 18 |
| Sanskrit name | Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga |
| Usually rendered | The Divine and the Demonic |
| Verses | 24 |
| Section (shatka) | Chapters 13-18 - the Jnana group, on the relation between them - asi |
| Part of | Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva - the Gita's 700 verses across 18 chapters |
🗺️ Where It Sits
Chapter 16 is the Gita's chapter on character — specifically, on two opposed dispositions it calls the daivi sampad, the divine endowment, and the asuri sampad, the demonic endowment.
Krishna is explicit at 16.5 that the divine leads to liberation and the demonic to bondage, and then adds a line that keeps the chapter from being simply condemnatory: do not grieve, Pandava — you are born to the divine endowment.
🕊️ The Divine Endowment (16.1–16.3)
Twenty-six qualities across three verses. Krishna lists them without ranking:
| Quality | Meaning |
|---|---|
| abhayam | Fearlessness — placed first |
| sattva-samshuddhih | Purity of being |
| jnana-yoga-vyavasthitih | Steadfastness in knowledge and yoga |
| danam | Giving |
| damah | Control of the senses |
| yajnah | Sacrifice |
| svadhyayah | Study of scripture |
| tapah | Austerity |
| arjavam | Straightness |
| ahimsa | Non-injury |
| satyam | Truthfulness |
| akrodhah | Absence of anger |
| tyagah | Renunciation |
| shantih | Peace |
| apaishunam | Absence of slander |
| daya bhuteshu | Compassion to all beings |
| aloluptvam | Freedom from greed |
| mardavam | Gentleness |
| hrih | Modesty |
| achapalam | Absence of fickleness |
| tejah | Vigour |
| kshama | Forgiveness |
| dhritih | Fortitude |
| shaucham | Purity |
| adroho | Absence of malice |
| na-atimanita | Absence of excessive pride |
📌 What comes first
Fearlessness heads the list of twenty-six, ahead of purity, knowledge, charity and truthfulness. The commentators treat the placement as deliberate: fear is identified as the condition from which most of the opposing qualities grow.
🌪️ The Demonic Endowment (16.4, 16.7–16.20)
The opposing list is short — ostentation, arrogance, excessive pride, anger, harshness and ignorance (16.4) — and then Krishna spends fourteen verses describing what the disposition looks like, which is far more useful than the list.
The description: such people do not know what should be done or refrained from; there is no purity in them, no right conduct, no truth (16.7). They say the world is without truth, without foundation and without a governing principle, produced by mutual union and caused by nothing but desire (16.8). Holding this view, they engage in cruel works for the destruction of the world (16.9).
Then, at 16.13–15, Krishna does something remarkable: he quotes them, in the first person. This I have gained today; this desire I shall obtain; this wealth is mine and this too shall be mine; that enemy I have slain and the others I shall slay; I am the lord, the enjoyer, successful, powerful and happy; I am wealthy and well-born — who else is equal to me? I shall sacrifice, I shall give, I shall rejoice.
Krishna's comment: thus deluded by ignorance. It is one of the sharpest pieces of characterisation in Sanskrit literature, and its force comes from being a direct quotation rather than a description.
🚪 The Three Gates (16.21–16.24)
The chapter's most quoted verse, 16.21: threefold is this gate of hell, destructive of the self — desire, anger and greed. Therefore these three should be abandoned.
Krishna adds at 16.22 that one released from these three gates of darkness does what is good for the self and thereby reaches the supreme goal.
And the chapter closes on a criterion. At 16.23–24 Krishna says that one who acts under the impulse of desire, casting aside the injunctions of scripture, attains neither perfection nor happiness nor the supreme goal — and that scripture is therefore the authority in determining what should and should not be done. Knowing what is declared there, one should act accordingly.
💡 Why the chapter ends here
The whole chapter has been about self-assessment, and self-assessment has an obvious weakness: the disposition being described is precisely the one that is confident it is right. Krishna's closing move is to supply an external check — shastra — rather than leaving the judgement to the person making it.
⭐ Key Verses
Verses are given in Devanagari, in transliteration, and in plain English. Chapter-and-verse numbering follows the standard vulgate used in most printed editions.
अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः ।
दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम् ॥
abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśhuddhir jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ |
dānaṁ damaśh cha yajñaśh cha svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam ||
Fearlessness, purity of being, steadfastness in knowledge and yoga, giving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of scripture, austerity, straightness…
The opening of the twenty-six qualities. Fearlessness comes first — ahead of purity, knowledge, charity and truth.
इदमद्य मया लब्धमिमं प्राप्स्ये मनोरथम् ।
इदमस्तीदमपि मे भविष्यति पुनर्धनम् ॥
idam adya mayā labdham imaṁ prāpsye manoratham |
idam astīdam api me bhaviṣhyati punar dhanam ||
“This I have gained today; this desire I shall obtain. This wealth is mine, and this too shall be mine hereafter.”
Krishna quotes the demonic disposition in the first person for three verses — one of the sharpest pieces of characterisation in Sanskrit literature.
त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः ।
कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत् ॥
tri-vidhaṁ narakasyedaṁ dvāraṁ nāśhanam ātmanaḥ |
kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobhas tasmād etat trayaṁ tyajet ||
Threefold is this gate of hell, destructive of the self: desire, anger and greed. Therefore these three should be abandoned.
The chapter's most quoted verse.
💡 What the Chapter Teaches
- Fearlessness heads the divine list. Placed ahead of purity, knowledge, charity and truth — the commentators treat fear as the root the opposing qualities grow from.
- “Demonic” describes a human disposition. Not a species. The chapter is offered as self-examination, and reading it as being about other people misses the point.
- Krishna quotes rather than describes. Three verses in the first person do more than any list could.
- Three gates, named plainly. Desire, anger and greed — and the instruction is simply to abandon them.
- The chapter ends by supplying an external check. Because the disposition being diagnosed is exactly the one certain it is right, shastra is given as the authority rather than one's own judgement.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three gates of hell in the Bhagavad Gita?
Verse 16.21: desire, anger and greed — kama, krodha, lobha — described as threefold and destructive of the self, and to be abandoned. It is the most quoted verse of the chapter; 16.22 adds that one released from these three gates of darkness does what is good for the self and reaches the supreme goal.
What are the 26 divine qualities in Chapter 16?
Fearlessness, purity of being, steadfastness in knowledge and yoga, giving, sense-control, sacrifice, scriptural study, austerity, straightness, non-injury, truthfulness, absence of anger, renunciation, peace, absence of slander, compassion, freedom from greed, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness, vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of malice and of excessive pride. Fearlessness is placed first.
Does 'asuri sampad' mean literal demons?
No. Asura here describes a human disposition, not a supernatural species. The chapter lists ostentation, arrogance, excessive pride, anger, harshness and ignorance, then spends fourteen verses describing people. It is offered as self-examination — Krishna reassures Arjuna at the outset that he is born to the divine endowment.
Why does Krishna quote the demonic person in the first person?
At 16.13–15 he gives their thinking directly — “this I have gained today… this wealth is mine and this too shall be mine… who else is equal to me?” — and comments, thus deluded by ignorance. The force comes from it being a quotation rather than a description: nobody thinks of themselves as demonic, but the sentences are recognisable.
Why does Chapter 16 end by citing scripture as the authority?
Because self-assessment has an obvious weakness: the disposition being diagnosed is exactly the one certain it is right. At 16.23–24 Krishna says one who acts under the impulse of desire, casting aside scriptural injunction, attains neither perfection nor happiness nor the supreme goal — and that shastra is therefore the authority. It supplies an external check.
🙏 Conclusion
Chapter 16 is uncomfortable by design, and it is worth noticing how carefully it avoids becoming a licence to categorise other people. Krishna reassures Arjuna at the outset that he is born to the divine endowment — so the description that follows is not an instruction to go and identify asuras. It is a mirror, and the three verses of first-person quotation are what make it one: nobody has ever thought of themselves as demonic, but almost everyone has thought this wealth is mine and this too shall be mine. The chapter closes by naming the three gates and then, sensibly, refusing to leave the assessment to the person doing the assessing.