DEMONIAC TRAITS
dambho darpo'bhimaanashcha krodhah paarushyameva cha
ajnaanam chaabhijaatasya paartha sampadamaasureem // 16.4 //
Hypocrisy, arrogance, self-conceit, anger and also harshness and ignorance, belong to one who is born in a demoniacal state, O Partha.
Hypocrisy - Pretending to be righteous but living in unrighteous way of life.
Arrogance - Pride in one's learning, wealth, social status or family connections thereby living in imagined self-importance. This leads to self-conceit.
Anger - When a person of self-conceit looks at the world and finds that its estimate of him is totally different from his own he becomes angry over everything around him which leads to audacity.
All these qualities arise from one's own self-assessment out of self-delusion and ignorance about the scheme of life in the world around him. This ignorance of oneself and his relationship with the world around is the cause of his revolt against his environment and the resultant eccentric actions. These types of people are called demoniac or asuric in contrast to the Daivic or Divinely described earlier. The effect of these two types is discussed now.
THEIR RESPECTIVE RESULTS
daivee sampadvimokshaaya nibhandhaayaasuree mataa
maa shuchah sampadam daiveem abhijaato’si paandava // 16.5 //
The divine nature leads to liberation and the demoniacal for bondage. Grieve not, O Arjuna, for you are born with divine properties.
After hearing the features of the Divine and Demoniac natures Arjuna starts wondering where he stands. Hence The Lord assures him that he is born with Divine qualities.
He reiterates that Divine nature is for liberation - liberation from the psychological entanglements through living these healthy values of righteousness. As a contrast to this Demoniac nature leads to confusion and sorrow preventing one from rising high in the spiritual and moral fields.
Sri Krishna analyses the diabolically fallen or people of demoniac nature in more details in the following verses.
NATURE OF THE DEMONIAC PEOPLE
dwau bhootasargau loke’smin daiva aasura eva cha
daivo vistarashah proktah aasuram paartha me shrinu // 16.6 //
There are two types of beings in this world - the divine and the demoniac; the divine has been described at length; hear from Me, O Arjuna, of the demoniac.
pravrittim cha nivrittim cha janaa na viduraasurah
na shaucham naapi chaachaaro na satyam teshu vidyate // 16.7 //
The demoniac do not know about the way of action or the way of renunciation ; neither purity nor right conduct nor truth is found in them.
asatyamapratishtham te jagadaahuraneeshwaram
aparasparasambhootam kimanyat kaamahaitukam // 16.8 //
They say ‘this Universe is without truth, without a (moral) basis, without a God, brought about by mutual union with lust for its cause, what else’?
The devilish personality is incapable of deciding about the actions to be pursued and those to be avoided. He does not possess outer cleanliness or inward harmony. Good conduct is absent in him. He can not maintain truthfulness in his words.
They fail to recognize the truth that upholds the Universe i.e. they do not recognize the eternal unchanging Reality behind the ever-changing flux of things. According to them there is no commanding intelligence that orders, regulates, determines and guides the happenings in the world. They believe that the universe is formed as a result of mutual combination of the elements and the driving force that determines the creation is nothing but lust.
etaam drishtimavashtabhya nashtaatmaano’lpabuddhayah
prabhavantyugrakarmaanah kshayaaya jagato’hitaah // 16.9 //
Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellects and fierce deeds, come forth as enemies of the world for its destruction.
Believing that the world has no substratum, that there is no controlling power and that it exists and continues on the basis of lust, the devilish people with selfish sense-gratifying intellect and ruined soul i.e. ignorant of their own Divine nature perform fierce deeds. They carry out all sorts of licentious acts to the detriment of the world at large ultimately leading to the destruction of the world itself. They bring about a discordant note of disharmony in the community and plunge the world into disaster.
kaamamaashritya dushpooram dambhamaanamadaanvitaah
mohaadgriheetvaasadgraahaan pravartante shuchivrataah // 16.10 //
Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, holding evil ideas through delusion, they work with impure resolves.
Given to desire - Yielding to desires devilish persons lead a life of perpetual suffering and endless disturbances in and around them as all their desires are insatiable. They are full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance. They are the victims of their own delusion because they forget their divine nature by identifying themselves with the unreal things and values of life.
When all these negative tendencies rule over the demoniac people their actions in the world can not but be the cause for disaster and destruction to others.
chintaamaparimeyaam cha pralayaantaamupaashritaah
kaamopabhogaparamaa etaavaditi nishchitaah // 16.11 //
Giving themselves over to immeasurable cares ending only with death, regarding gratification of lust as their highest aim and feeling sure that it is all.
aashaapaashatairbaddhaah kaamakrodhaparaayanaah
eehante kaamabhogaartha manyaayenaarthasanchayaan // 16.12 //
Bound by hundreds of ties of desire, given over to lust and anger, they strive to amass by unjust means hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyment.
This materialistic doctrine which states
“yavad jivet sukham jivet rnam krtva ghrtam pibet |
bhasmibhutasya dehasya punar aagamanam kutah ||
“Eat, drink and be merry, for death is certain and there is nothing beyond”.
Such desperate men with all anxieties and cares lead a futile life. Struggling to acquire the desired objects and to be anxious for preserving what is acquired are all the cares of their lives. Satisfaction of lust is their highest goal. Their firm conviction is that there is nothing beyond this in life. They do not know what is peace, harmony and joy in life. According to them sorrows and cares alone are the contents of life. Ultimately they end in miserable death, exhausted and disappointed.
Entangled by insatiable desires, the energies of demoniac persons get dissipated. They become restless and impatient with their surroundings and lose their sense of judgment.
Irritated and constantly unhappy with their environment, they become angry over unfulfilled desires. They ceaselessly try to acquire more and more wealth to satisfy their sensual hunger losing sight of a diviner principle of existence.