Chapter 16, Verse 18
अहंकारं बलं दर्पं कामं क्रोधं च संश्रिताः | मामात्मपरदेहेषु प्रद्विषन्तोऽभ्यसूयकाः ||१६-१८||
ahaṃkāraṃ balaṃ darpaṃ kāmaṃ krodhaṃ ca saṃśritāḥ . māmātmaparadeheṣu pradviṣanto.abhyasūyakāḥ ||16-18||
Meaning
16.18 Given over to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies and in those of others.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna gathers the threads of the demoniac portrait into one knot: ahankara (egoism), bala (brute power), darpa (insolence), kama (lust), and krodha (anger). These are not separate faults but a single interlocking pattern, each feeding the others, with ego at the centre.
The verse then reveals the spiritual heart of the matter. Because the Lord dwells in atma-para-deheshu — within their own bodies and within all others — to hate and revile beings is to hate the Divine itself, present everywhere. The asura, blind to this indwelling presence, becomes abhyasuyaka, one who resents the very goodness of life. Here Krishna unveils the deepest cost of the lower nature: it severs us not only from others but from the sacred core of our own being. Cruelty toward any creature is, in truth, enmity toward the God who lives within all.
💡 Key Takeaway
Since the Divine dwells within every being, contempt for others is ultimately a turning away from God within ourselves.
Related Verses
दम्भो दर्पोऽभिमानश्च क्रोधः पारुष्यमेव च | अज्ञानं चाभिजातस्य पार्थ सम्पदमासुरीम् ||१६-४||
dambho darpo.abhimānaśca krodhaḥ pāruṣyameva ca . ajñānaṃ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadamāsurīm ||16-4||
16.4 Hypocrisy, arrogance and self-conceit, anger and also harshness and ignorance, belong to one who is born for a demoniacal state, O Partha (Arjuna).
द्वौ भूतसर्गौ लोकेऽस्मिन्दैव आसुर एव च | दैवो विस्तरशः प्रोक्त आसुरं पार्थ मे शृणु ||१६-६||
dvau bhūtasargau loke.asmindaiva āsura eva ca . daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta āsuraṃ pārtha me śṛṇu ||16-6||
16.6 There are two types of beings in this world, the divine and the demoniacal; the divine has been described at length; hear from Me, O Arjuna, of the demoniacal.
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुरासुराः | न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते ||१६-७||
pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca janā na vidurāsurāḥ . na śaucaṃ nāpi cācāro na satyaṃ teṣu vidyate ||16-7||
16.7 The demoniacal know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither purity, nor right conduct nor truth is found in them.