Gita Series – 86: Bhagavad Gita Chapter VII. Verses 15 – 17

“Those deluded by illusion become devoid of knowledge and assume demonic nature. Such foolish men resort to evil deeds and do not seek refuge in Me. Arjuna! Four types of virtuous men worship Me, the seekers of material prosperity, the afflicted, the seekers of knowledge and men of wisdom. Out of the four, a man of wisdom who is always established in Me and possessing single pointed devotion to Me is superior. I am very dear to him and he is very dear to Me.”

The one who is constantly bewildered by māyā transforms as a person of diabolic nature. When one does not have any spiritual inclination, he acquires demonic qualities. Krishna calls inhuman behaviour as demonic qualities. Such men do not fear for their own conscience. They do not follow the laid down principles of normal human life. They transform themselves as notorious and unethical characters and cause serious disruptions in a scenario of peaceful coexistence. They make the living of other beings miserable. Krishna calls them as demonic characters. They do not even think about the Brahman, leave alone taking refuge in Him.

Krishna says that there are four kinds of people who worship Him. The first category is those who seek material prosperity. They are religious and not spiritual, as they consider material prosperity more important than following a spiritual life, which alone could lead to final liberation. They are not willing to renounce. Their sole aim is to go on multiplying their wealth for generations to come. They are not even willing to share their material wealth with those who are in dire need of it. In other words, they are also known as misers. They pray to God only for material prosperity. They are not even willing to spend on God! God is not willing to mend their ways.

The second one is the afflicted. They resort to God for their miseries, not knowing that they are subjected to miseries due to their karma. During their happy times, they do not even think about God. But at the time of their miseries they hang on to God. God does not accede to their prayers. God always remains as a Judge. In the court of the Lord, not only evil doers, but the thinkers of evil also get punished. A question may arise as to why God always remains partial. He is not surely partial. God goes by the principle of surrender, by subjugating one’s ego. If one sees God in whatever he sees or affirms that the God is the doer of all his actions, God is willing to respond. Such men do not ask for favours from the Lord. God voluntarily offers remedy.

Third category is those who seek knowledge. The knowledge that they seek is not the ordinary knowledge. They seek the knowledge to realise the Lord. They have begun their spiritual journey and quite a distance is to be covered for their liberation. They have not yet renounced worldly attachments.

The fourth category is those who have completed the process of knowledge acquirement. They live with the Lord all the time. They are the realised souls. They do not think anything apart from the Brahman. They live always in bliss. They are in the form of the Lord Himself. For them, Lord is not different from their selves. The individual self and the cosmic Self are one and the same. But they continue to exist till the balance in their karmic accounts is exhausted. Once their karmic accounts are nullified, their body fall and their soul merges with the Brahman forever. Krishna says that not only He is close to them, but also they are very dear to Him. Being close to the Lord happens at the penultimate stage of spiritual path that ultimately culminates when the aspirant becomes very dear to the Lord Himself and merges into Him, not to be born again.

Krishna calls all the four kinds of men as virtuous as the Lord does not differentiate amongst His creations.

Further Readings:

Bhagavad Gita. Chapter VII. 12-14

Bhagavad Gita. Chapter VII. 18 - 22

Bhagavad Gita as it is