Chapter 16, Verse 7
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||
Meaning
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.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
The first mark of the demoniac mind, Krishna says, is a loss of discernment about pravritti and nivritti — when to act and when to abstain. This is not mere ignorance of facts but a deeper confusion about right and wrong, the inner compass spun useless. Without that compass, life becomes a wandering driven by impulse rather than guided by wisdom.
From this confusion follow three absences: shaucha (purity), achara (proper conduct), and satya (truth). These are precisely the foundations of a dharmic life, and their lack reveals a being unmoored from any higher order. The verse is striking in its restraint — Krishna does not call these people monstrous, only directionless. The real tragedy of the lower nature is not its strength but its blindness, its inability to tell the path of light from the path of ruin.
💡 Key Takeaway
Losing the sense of what is right to do and right to avoid is the first symptom of a life slipping into darkness.
Related Verses
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम् | दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् ||१६-२||
ahiṃsā satyamakrodhastyāgaḥ śāntirapaiśunam . dayā bhūteṣvaloluptvaṃ mārdavaṃ hrīracāpalam ||16-2||
16.2 Harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion towards beings, non-covetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness.
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.