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Chapter 16 · The Divine and Demoniac Natures · 24 verses

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Character & ethicsChapter 16 · The Divine and Demoniac Natures
16.1816.20

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 16.19

Demoniac qualities and their consequences

तानहं द्विषत: क्रूरान्संसारेषु नराधमान् ।

क्षिपाम्यजस्रमश‍ुभानासुरीष्वेव योनिषु ॥ १९ ॥

tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān

saṁsāreṣu narādhamān

kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān

āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu

Translation

Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

The Lord Decides the Next Birth

  1. 1The Lord repeatedly casts the envious and mischievous, the lowest among people, into demoniac forms of material life.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that each soul’s next body is decided by the Supreme Lord, not by personal choice or chance.
  3. 3Accept the Lord’s supremacy rather than acting only according to your own whims.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 16, The Divine and Demoniac Natures: demoniac qualities and their consequences.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Cultivate divine qualities in character.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: daivī-sampat, dharma.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 16.19 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to character & ethics?

Practice

Choose one virtue to practice consciously today.

4

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 16.6Demoniac qualities and their consequencesBG 16.7Demoniac qualities and their consequencesBG 12.13Qualities of a devotee dear to Krishna

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.