Gita Series – 151: Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. Verse 13 – 16

“They always assume, ‘This has been attained by me today. This desire of mine has been fulfilled today. I have this much of wealth. I am going to acquire further wealth. This enemy has been killed by me today. I will kill the rest also. I am the god. I am the enjoyer of wealth. I have attained all the siddhi-s. I am strong and happy. I am rich and born in a great family. There is none equal to me. I am going to perform yajna-s. I am going to give alms. I am going to enjoy pleasures’ and thus get deluded by ignorance and stay confused all the time. They are afflicted with desires and sensual pleasures and embroil themselves in complete demoniac qualities and sink deep into all types of hell.”

Krishna says that those who possess demoniac qualities do not think properly and their thoughts are totally corrupted, always thinking about their selves alone. It is the spiritual ignorance that makes them completely bewildered. They become highly egocentric with no concern for others. They find happiness in sadism, which become the cause, for their ultimate fall. They do not have inclination to secure their future by following spiritual path. They are concerned with accumulating wealth to satiate their sadistic pleasures. They erroneously believe that they have attained supernatural powers. Supernatural powers are not that easy to attain, as one has to do severe penance to attain such siddhi-s. They do not have time and inclination to do penance and hence it is not possible for them to attain such siddhi-s. Further, their minds are corrupted with afflicted thoughts that prompt them to indulge in actions that cause mental and physical agony to others. They defy the logic of omnipresent nature of the Lord. Such illusionary mind set makes them to consider them as gods and expect others to worship them as their saviour.

In order to boast their ego, they perform sacrificial fire rituals. The Lord never comes to a place that is full of pomp and vanity. The Lord appears in person only in those places that is full of love and compassion. They also claim that they hail from a family of great lineage. Generally, a person’s lineage can be found out from his behaviour. They are completely engulfed with ego. Ego and spirituality are the two extreme ends. Ego leads to destruction and surrender leads to liberation. Except physical strength, they have none to be truly proud of. Selfishness, egocentric, pride, sadistic desires, craving for wealth, pomp, vanity, injuring others are the qualities that ultimately pull them down to destruction. They face death with extreme pain, with serious of dreadful transmigrations awaiting them. There will be no liberation for such souls till the universe is annihilated by the Lord.

Kṛṣṇa says that one has to be extremely careful with the path they pursue. After all, what is sown is reaped.

Further Readings:

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. 4 - 6

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. 7 - 12

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. 17 - 24