Chapter 16, Verse 2
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम् | दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् ||१६-२||
ahiṃsā satyamakrodhastyāgaḥ śāntirapaiśunam . dayā bhūteṣvaloluptvaṃ mārdavaṃ hrīracāpalam ||16-2||
Meaning
16.2 Harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion towards beings, non-covetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
The divine catalogue continues, now turning toward how the awakened soul meets others. Ahimsa — harmlessness — is the cornerstone: a refusal to wound by thought, word, or deed, paired with satyam, the courage to live in truth. Where many imagine gentleness as weakness, Krishna places mardavam (softness) and hri (a wholesome modesty) among the strengths of the strong.
These qualities form a relational ethic. Akrodha (freedom from anger), apaishunam (refusing to slander), and daya (compassion for all that breathes) all dissolve the ego's habit of dividing the world into rivals. Acapalam — steadiness — anchors them, so that virtue is not a passing mood but a settled way of being. The divine nature, then, is recognised less by what it preaches than by how it treats the living world around it.
💡 Key Takeaway
True spiritual strength shows itself as gentleness, compassion, and an unwavering refusal to harm.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः | दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम् ||१६-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . abhayaṃ sattvasaṃśuddhirjñānayogavyavasthitiḥ . dānaṃ damaśca yajñaśca svādhyāyastapa ārjavam ||16-1||
16.1 The Blessed Lord said Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and Yoga, almsgiving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness.
तेजः क्षमा धृतिः शौचमद्रोहो नातिमानिता | भवन्ति सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातस्य भारत ||१६-३||
tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucamadroho nātimānitā . bhavanti sampadaṃ daivīmabhijātasya bhārata ||16-3||
16.3 Vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride these belong to the one born for a divine state, O Arjuna.
दैवी सम्पद्विमोक्षाय निबन्धायासुरी मता | मा शुचः सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातोऽसि पाण्डव ||१६-५||
daivī sampadvimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā . mā śucaḥ sampadaṃ daivīmabhijāto.asi pāṇḍava ||16-5||
16.5 The divine nature is deemed conducive to liberation, and the demoniacal to bondage. Grieve not, O Arjuna, thou art born with divine endowments.