Good & Bad people as per Bhagwat Gita

How does "Bhagwat Gita" distinguishes between good & bad people? Lord Krishna describes in detail in “Chapter Sixteen“ of "Bhagwat Gita" about the qualities of good & bad people.

As per Lord Krishna, people of good nature are of transcendental qualities; belong to godly men & are endowed with divine nature. Below verses of "Bhagwat Gita" explain about the nature of good & bad people.

"sri-bhagavan uvacha
abhayam sattva-samsuddhir
jnana-yoga-vyavasthitih
danam damas cha yajnas cha
svadhyayas tapa arjavam"

"ahimsa satyam akrodhas
tyagah shantir apaisunam
daya bhutesv aloluptvam
mardavam hrir achapalam"

"tejah ksama dhrtih shaucham
adroho nati-manita
bhavanti sampadam daivim
abhijatasya bharata" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 1-2-3)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Fearlessness; purification of one’s existence; cultivation of spiritual knowledge; charity; self-control; performance of sacrifice; study of the Vedas; austerity; simplicity; nonviolence; truthfulness; freedom from anger; renunciation; tranquility; aversion to faultfinding; compassion for all living entities; freedom from covetousness; gentleness; modesty; steady determination; vigor; forgiveness; fortitude; cleanliness; and freedom from envy and from the passion for honor—these transcendental qualities, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature."

As per Lord Krishna people of demoniac nature are born in this world to cause pain to others & are the cause of destruction of this world. Just go through below verses to know about the qualities of the people of demoniac / bad nature & reflect, whether there are any such qualities present in yourself. If you find any such qualities in you, just try to weed these out of your nature, as otherwise, these shall lead to your fall only, morally & spiritually.

"dvau bhuta-sargau loke ’smin
daiva asura eva cha
daivo vistarasah prokta
asuram partha me shrinu" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 6)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, in this world there are two kinds of created beings. One is called the divine and the other demoniac. I have already explained to you at length the divine qualities. Now hear from Me of the demoniac."

"dambho darpo ’bhimanas cha
krodhah parusyam eva cha
ajnanam chabhijatasya
partha sampadam asurim" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 4)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance—these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature."

"pravrttim cha nivrttim cha
jana na vidur asurah
na shaucham napi chacharo
na satyam tesu vidyate" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 7)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them."

"asatyam apratishtham te
jagad ahur anishvaram
aparaspara-sambhutam
kim anyat kama-haitukam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, They say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust."

"etam drstim avastabhya
nastatmano ’lpa-buddhayah
prabhavanty ugra-karmanah
ksayaya jagato ’hitah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 9)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world."

"kamam asritya duspuram
dambha-mana-madanvitah
mohad grhitvasad-grahan
pravartante ’suci-vratah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 10)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Taking shelter of insatiable lust and absorbed in the conceit of pride and false prestige, the demoniac, thus disillusioned , are always sworn to unclean work, attracted by the impermanent."

"cintam aparimeyam cha
pralayantam upasritah
kamopabhoga-parama
etavad iti niscitah"

"asa-pasa-satair baddhah
kama-krodha-parayanah
ihante kama-bhogartham
anyayenartha-sanchayan" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 11-12)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification."

"daivi sampad vimokshaya
nibandhayasuri mata
ma suchah sampadam daivim
abhijato ’si pandava" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 5)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, The transcendental qualities are conducive to liberation, whereas the demoniac qualities make for bondage. Do not worry Arjuna, for you are born with the divine qualities."

So above are defined the good & demoniacal qualities of good & bad people as defined in the "Bhagwat Gita". So we should follow only the good qualities in this world & we should abstain from all such bad qualities as defined above.

Jai Sri Krishna

Tamas or TamoGun

"It is chilling cold night. You are cozily lying in your bed inside your quilt. Your room heater is also on to beat the cold. You fall asleep in such a cozy environment. You have a nice deep sleep. Morning dawn has occurred still you are deep asleep. Sleep in such a cozy environment is making you lazy. You do not want to come out of your bed as outside you shall feel cold again. Sun has risen & it's your time to start your daily chorus but your laziness is not allowing you to do anything. You want to enjoy your sleep only in your cozy quilt. You ignore your call for your daily duty also. Your laziness has taken over your call to daily routine duty. Lo, today you have decided not to do anything & ignore your duty. You go back to sleep in your cozy bed."

The above said stanza clearly states that if you are inclined to laziness, inertia, do not do your daily duty & just becomes careless about your life, then you are falling a pray to "Tamas" or "TamoGun". A person falls a pray to "TamoGun" due to his/her ignorance & delusion only which causes indolence, laziness and sleep.

Bhagwat Gita illustrates the "Tamas" or "TamoGun" very clearly & beautifully. As per Bhagwat Gita this Material nature consists of three modes i.e. Sattva, Rajas & Tamas. Out of the three modes of Nature, "Tamas" or "Tamo Gunn" is the one which is responsible for ignorance, delusion, indolence, laziness and sleep. We should not fall a pray to this "TamoGun". We should do our daily duty, coming out of this laziness and sleep, which are born of ignorance. Below are verses of Bhagwat Gita which explains about the qualities of this "TamoGun".

"sattvam rajas tama iti
Gunnah prakriti-sambhavah
nibadhnanti maha-baho
dehe dehinam avyayam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 5)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Material nature consists of three modes—Sattva (goodness), Rajas (passion) and Tamas (ignorance). When the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, he becomes conditioned by these three modes."

"tamas tv ajnana-jam viddhi
mohanam sarva-dehinam
pramadalasya-nidrabhis
tan nibadhnati bharata" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, know that "Tamas"- the mode of darkness, born of ignorance, creates delusion in all embodied living entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul."

"aprakaso ’pravrttis cha
pramado moha eva cha
tamasy etani jayante
vivrddhe kuru-nandana" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 13)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, When there is an increase in "Tamas"- the mode of ignorance, then darkness, inertia, madness and illusion are manifested."

"karmanah sukritasyahuh
sattvikam nirmalam phalam
rajasas tu phalam duhkham
ajnanam tamasah phalam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, The result of pious action is pure and is said to be in the mode of goodness. But action done in the mode of passion results in misery, and action performed in "Tamas"- the mode of ignorance results in foolishness."

"rajas tamas chabhibhuya
sattvam bhavati bharata
rajah sattvam tamas chaiva
tamah sattvam rajas tatha" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Fourteen verse 10)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Sometimes the mode of goodness becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance. Sometimes the mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at other times "Tamas"/Ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy."

Pl. note that all those people who have a destructive way of life, like those terrorists who struck in Mumbai, killing people mercilessly, were in fact under the influence of "Tamas" or "TamoGun", as their mind & intellect were covered with ignorance due to Tamasic nature. Hence their perverted mind thought that killing the innocent people was their duty, while they were doing demonical work only by doing such killings.

In fact "TamoGun" engulfs one's mind & intellect with the darkness of ignorance & makes a person believe that, whatever, wrong he/she is doing is right, while it is their perverted thinking only which make them do wrong only, the consequence of which shall be misery only in future. So we should not fall a pray to Tamasic nature & should not do devilish acts which lead one's soul to degradation only. To read more about the qualities of people of 'Demoniac Nature' who are under the influence of "TamoGun", read my earlier Blog Post here.......................Qualities of People of 'Demoniac Nature'.

Qualities of People of 'Demoniac Nature'

In "Bhagwat Gita", Lord Krishna tells about in detail the people of demoniac nature who are born in this world to cause pain to others & are the cause of destruction of this world. Just go through the qualities of the people of demoniac / bad nature & reflect, whether there are any such qualities present in yourself. If you find any such qualities in you, just try to weed these out of your nature, as otherwise, these shall lead to your fall only, morally & spiritually.

As per the Lord in ( Gita: Chapter XVI verse 7 to 20 ) God says that:

" Men belonging to the demoniac group know not what is right activity & what right cessation of activity. Hence they posses neither purity ( internal & external), nor good conduct nor truth." - Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse-7

"They say: The world is without any foundation & altogether false, Godless & brought about by mutual union ( of man & woman); what else?"- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse-8

"Embracing this view, these lost souls with little understanding, ill disposed & devoted to cruel actions, are born for the destruction of the world."- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse-9

"Possessed of hypocrisy, conceit & arrogance & given to insatiable passion, and adopting false doctrines due to delusion, they take to action with impure vows."- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse-10

"Giving themselves over to endless cares terminating only with death, and given to the enjoyment of sensuous pleasures, they believe the highest limit of joy to consist only in this."
"Held in bondage by a hundred ties of expectation, given over to passion & anger, they strive to obtain by unlawful means hoards of money for the enjoyment of sensuous pleasures."-
Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse 11-12

"This has been won by me today; that ambition I shall realize now; this wealth is mine already; that will be mine again"
"This enemy has been already disposed of by me, and I shall make short work of others also. I am the lord, I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful & happy.
"I am wealthy, and high-born. who else is like unto me? I shall perform sacrifices, give alms & rejoice. Thus deluded by ignorance, bewildered by numerous thoughts, enmeshed of the web of delusion & addiced of the enjoyment of sensuous pleasures, men of demoniacal nature fall into the foulest hell."- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI - verse 13,14,15 & Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI - verse 16

"Self-important, unbending, filled with the intoxication of wealth & honor, performing nominal sacrifices for show & contrary to scriptural ordinance."- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse-17
"Given over to egoism, violence, insolence, passion & anger, these malicious persons hate Me ( God) that dwell in the bodies of others, as well, as in their own body."- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse-18

"These haters, evil, cruel, & vilest among men, I ( God) repeatedly throw into demoniacal wombs in this world."- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse -19

"Arjuna, cast into demoniacal wombs, birth after birth, these fools, attaining not to Me ( God), sink into still lower depths."- Bhagwat Gita: Chapter XVI verse-20

So above are the demoniacal qualities of bad people as defined per the "Bhagwat Gita" in this world & we should abstain from all such qualities.