Gita Series – 150: Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. Verse 7 – 12

“The one with demoniac qualities do not know which action is right, and which is wrong, as a result of which, they become impure both internally and externally. They do not speak truth and end up in impropriety. They also say that the universe is unsupported, without Lord and created out of lecherousness. Devoid of knowledge, these afflicted souls become immoral and always think of injuring others, indulge in evil acts and strive for the destruction of the world. Persisting with insatiable desires and pursuing falsified precepts they exist as personifications of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance. Indulging in everlasting pleasures and full of worries till their death and believe that this is all their existence. Thinking that their life is only for sensual gratifications, they embezzle wealth in illegal ways and bound by desire and wrath.”

Demoniac qualities arise out of darkness of ignorance causing infrangible illusion. Their minds shake off its human tendency and become beastly in nature. Mind loses its capacity to think and gets totally afflicted with sensory influences, leaving no room for intellect to prevail. This results in losing out their capacity to think logically, leading to enacting of evil acts. A person with a right frame of mind will have the capacity to circumspect, whereas the one with an afflicted mind is not concerned with the consequences of his actions and always remains in a frenzied mood all the time, causing injuries to others. They are called impure, both internally and externally because the frame of mind is reflected through their bodies.

The qualities of such beastly men are being explained. They do not speak truth and indulge in all kinds of inappropriate actions. They derive jubilation in harming others, both physically and mentally. They are not concerned with karmic afflictions, as they do not believe in the existence of God. They believe that the world has come into existence through carnal knowledge. They do not know anything about the formation and existence of the universe or galaxies. They live on impulses and momentary and carnal pleasures and never look beyond their present existence. They perpetually lay afflicted with ignorance of the highest order and always remain in darkness. That is why scriptures describe demons as black in colour. Because of their evil acts, they proceed to impregnate the world with all kinds of evils and wickedness leading to its destabilisation and destruction. When their evil acts go unabated, the Lord incarnates Himself and wipes them out. Demons in scriptures subtly refer to the darkness of ignorance about spiritual life. There is no harm even if a person does not pursue the spiritual path, but he should not denounce the one, who follows the spiritual path.

They are never satisfied with evil oriented desires. Their desires always remain unabated and they go un-confronted because of their might. They are unaware of divine commandments and they have their own un-established and unconventional precepts to follow. They have falsified pride and arrogance, making them incompatible to peaceful co-existence. There is no peace and harmony around them. They always remain submerged in carnal pleasures. Their ungratified desires and lust, virtually lead them to their own graves and they ultimately perish with a lot of pains. They always indulge in conceitedness and in order to sustain themselves, they loot the innocent and make money through all unethical means. When they are unable to satiate their desires, they turn themselves into a powerhouse of wrath and cause huge destruction not only to themselves, but also to the society at large. They are of the opinion that their birth is to cause damage to the society and to the world at large.

Further Readings:

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. 1 - 3

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. 4 - 6

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI. 13 - 16