The Yoga of
the Division between the Divine and the Demoniacal
Divine Life Society Publication: - Bhagavadgita
– Summary of Sixteenth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
This discourse is important and very instructive to all persons who
wish to attain happiness, prosperity and blessedness, and to seekers in
particular, who wish to attain success in their spiritual life. Lord Krishna
brings out quite clearly and unmistakably here the intimate connection between
ethics and spirituality, between a life of virtue and God-realization and
liberation. Listing two sets of qualities of opposite kinds, the Lord
classifies them as divine and demoniacal (undivine), and urges us to eradicate
the latter and cultivate the divine qualities.
What kind of nature should one develop? What conduct must one follow?
What way should one live and act if one must attain God and obtain divine
bliss? These questions are answered with perfect clarity and very definitely.
The pure divine qualities are conducive to peace and liberation and the undivine
qualities lead to bondage. Purity, good conduct and truth are indispensable to
spiritual progress and even to an honorable life here.
Devoid of purity, good conduct and truth, and having no faith in God
or a higher Reality beyond this visible world, man degenerates into a
two-legged beast of ugly character and cruel actions, and sinks into darkness.
Such a person becomes his own enemy and the destroyer of the happiness of
others as well as his own. Caught in countless desires and cravings, a slave of
sensual enjoyments and beset by a thousand cares, his life ultimately ends in
misery and degradation. Haughtiness, arrogance and egoism lead to this dire
fate. Therefore, a wise person, desiring success, must eradicate vice and
cultivate virtue.
In this world three gates lead to hell—the gates of passion, anger and
greed. Released from these three qualities one can succeed in attaining
salvation and reaching the highest goal, namely God. Thus the sacred scriptures
teach wisely the right path of pure, virtuous living. One should therefore
follow the injunctions of the sacred scriptures that wish his welfare and be
guided in his actions by their noble teachings.
Excerpts from:
The Yoga of the Division between the
Divine and the Demoniacal - Bhagavadgita
– Summary of Sixteenth Discourse by Sri Swami Sivananda
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