Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 16.6

Prabhupāda:

dvau bhūta-sargau loke 'smin daiva āsura eva ca daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta āsuraṁ pārtha me śṛṅu [Bg 16.6]

[O son of Pṛthā, in this world there are two kinds of created beings. One is called the divine and the other demonic. I have already explained to you at length the divine qualities. Now hear from Me of the demoniac.]

There are two classes of men within this world: daiva āsura eva ca. One class of men is called daiva, devatā, or the demigod, and the other class, asura. Sura means civilized, and asura means not civilized. Kirāta-hūṅāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ [SB 2.4.18]. These are amongst the noncivilized men.

Formerly, the kings of Bhārata-varṣa, India, they used to kill these uncivilized men. Bad example. They did not follow the Vedic civilization, so the king's order was that they should be killed. If they are too much prominent... Just like they are hunting in the forest. So these... There is history among..., about King Bharata, King Bharata, under whose name this planet is called Bhārata-varṣa. No, not that Bharata. There are three Bharatas. One Bharata is the son of Ṛṣabhadeva. Another Bharata is the son of Mahārāja Duṣyanta. Another Bharata is the younger brother of Lord Rāmacandra. Out of these three Bharatas, the son of Ṛṣabhadeva is the person after whose name this planet is called Bhārata-varṣa. So another Bharata was the son of Mahārāja Duṣyanta. He was very powerful, supposed to be; partial incarnation of God. So in his life he would not allow the uncivilized men to exist. He was king. He used to kill them. Why uncivilized men? Even the kṣatriyas, if they are not ruling properly according to the kṣatriyas... Kṣatriyas are supposed to be the ruler of the world. But if they are deviating from their duties, Paraśurāma, the brāhmaṅa, would kill them.

On the whole, in the Vedic civilization everyone should be in order. That was the set-up. Nobody can act independently, killing the human civilization. That was not possible. Mahārāja Pṛthu was personally checking whether people are following the varṅāśrama-dharma. A brāhmaṅa must follow the brahminical rules and regulation. Otherwise he would not be allowed to call himself a brāhmaṅa. Similarly, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras. This is called secular state. Secular state does not mean everyone is irresponsible. You must be responsible for your particular type of duty, and the government has to see it that everyone is doing that. That is secular state. Lord Rāmacandra, when He returned from the forest... In His absence Bharata was ruling, and when Bharata requested Lord Rāmacandra to take charge of the kingdom, Lord Rāmacandra was ready, but He first of all examined whether the citizens were following the varṅāśrama-dharma. When He was satisfied that the citizens were following the varṅāśrama-dharma, then He took charge of the kingdom and began to maintain them just like father.

This is the relationship between the government and the citizens. The citizens must be law-abiding, and the government must rule over them just like father. Father is not unaffectionate. Father is affectionate, and even the father chastises the son, that is not out of affection; that is also affection. So that was the relationship. So the asuras, they do not know this. Only the devatās, they know. There are two kinds of men. Dvau bhūta-sargau loke asmin daiva āsuraḥ [Bg 16.6].

So Kṛṣṅa says, daivo vistaraśaḥ proktaḥ. Kṛṣṅa has already explained in the beginning which are the qualification of the devatā and what are the qualification of the asuras. So qualification of the devatās:

abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhir jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam

ahiṁsā satyam akrodham tyāgaḥ śāntir apaiśunam dayā bhūteṣv aloluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīr acāpalam

tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucam adroho nātimānitā bhavanti sampadaṁ daivīm abhijātasya bhārata [Bg 16.1-3]

[The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purification of one's existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to faultfinding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honor—these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature.]

These are the qualification, daiva-sampada. Abhayam: one should be fearless. Who can become fearless? The one of the qualification of conditioned soul is fearfulness. Only a person who is advanced in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, he can become fearless. And sattva-saṁśuddhi. Sattva-saṁśuddhi. Our this sattva, existentional position, is impure, diseased. Therefore we die, again take birth. Asunti[?]. So sattva-saṁśuddhi: one should try to purify his existence. For that purpose there is necessity of tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam [SB 5.5.1].

[Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.]

Tapasya means austerity. If you want to cure your disease, then you must follow some austerities, rules and regulation. One man is suffering from diarrhea. If he is allowed to eat whatever he likes, then he will never be cured. He must observe fasting for few days; then it will be cured. So this is sattva-saṁśuddhi.

So we are put into this cycle of birth and death. If we don't correct it... Correct means we shall be less attached to the material enjoyment. So long we are attached to material enjoyment, we have to transmigrate from one type of body to another. So daivī-sampada means those who are devatās, their first business is how to rectify this diseased condition of life, repetition of birth and death. Everything is there. Sattva-saṁśuddhir jñāna. This requires jñāna, knowledge. Unless I know what is my position, why I am dying, what is death... This requires jñāna. Jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg 18.42].

[Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṅas work.]

That means you have to become a brāhmaṅa. Then you will have complete knowledge. Abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhir jñāna, yoga, jñāna-yoga. Vyavasthitiḥ. Dānam. Those who are kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, they should give in charity. That is also one of the sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ. Damaś ca, to control over the mind and the senses. Yajñaś ca: perform the yajña, hari-saṅkīrtana in this age. Yajñaś ca svādhyāyaḥ: must read Vedic literature. Tapa ārjavam. Tapasya, austerity; ārjavam, very frank and no duplicity, ārjavam. Dānam ahiṁsā, not unnecessarily, not to become envious.

Huh? [indistinct] [break] [end]