1.   Krishna continues His Divine instruction and tells Arjuna, ‘People come in various shades and at the two extremes are the people who are literally Divine and those who are absolutely demonic. I shall now describe briefly their characteristics.’

2.   ‘Attitudes vary because of the different ways in which the body, the senses and the mind function in relation to the heart. Incidentally, there are three spaces or worlds related to the body, the mind and the heart. They also are important in this discussion and you must know something about them.’

3.   ‘Let Me start with the body. It is gross in nature and exists in the physical world. In spirituality, this world is referred to as Bhutakasa or the Space of the Gross. Likewise, the mind has its own space called Chittakasa. Just as the individual body can wander in the Bhutakasa, the mind similarly wanders in the Chittakasa.’ 4.   ‘Beyond the Chittakasa lies the Chidakasa, the Causal Space from which everything is born. This is the space associated with the heart. You see Arjuna, everything starts with a feeling. Let us say there is an artist. First he feels like painting. This feeling originates in the heart - the heart is the realm of feelings. Next he develops ideas about what to paint. Action is now in the realm of thought, which takes place in the space of the mind. Finally the artist actually paints, an action that takes place in the Bhutakasa. This example must make clear how the three entities and the three associated spaces are all involved in the transformation of feeling into action.’ 5.   ‘Let Me now move on to the topic of how the heart, the mind and the senses influence the personality of an individual.’ 6.   ‘With regard to these three entities, God’s hierarchy is: Heart first, Mind next and senses/body last. That is, the heart must dictate the mind and the mind must control the senses as well as the actions of the body, in accordance with the wishes and feelings of the heart. This is the way God wants things done, and this is the right and proper way of doing things.’

7.   ‘If this order of priorities is followed, then you can be certain that the person concerned would be a good man. You can’t miss such a person because he would have a Divine glow about him. This effulgence is no accident; it springs directly from his sacred and noble qualities. He would exhibit moral courage under the most difficult of circumstances. Divine attributes like Sathya and Dharma would shine forth from him.’

8.   ‘Always radiating Love, he would be the embodiment of Daya or Compassion, Kshama or Forbearance, and Ahimsa or non-violence. I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about.’

9.   ‘Let Me now consider the alternate scenario where the body and the senses call the shots. Here, the mind is a slave to the body and the senses, and as a result it totally ignores the dictates of the heart. In this case, the heart is just a silent spectator. This precisely is what happens in a demonic person. The person may be human in appearance but in reality he is nothing short of the devil.’

10. ‘In such a person, the senses run wild, and the mind becomes a co-conspirator. The heart, as I just said, remains a silent witness.’

11. ‘This demonic person would be as bad as a person can be and would possess every conceivable evil trait. He is proud, arrogant, has a mountainous ego, bows to no one, and imagines he would be ever powerful.’

12. ‘He cannot simply understand virtues like compassion, etc., and values like Truth and Righteousness are complete strangers to him.’

13. ‘Harsh, vulgar, rude and easily prone to violent temper, he does not bat an eyelid in hurting others. He hurts in various ways; he hurts the minds of others with his cruel words and psychological pressure, and he hurts bodies with physical violence.’

14. ‘About his insatiable desires, what can I say except that even the sky is not the limit for them! Is it any wonder that such a person is utterly selfish and knows nothing other than self-interest?’ 15. ‘Arjuna, it is pretty revolting even to talk of such a person! Not only is he stuffed to the brim with every wicked and foul quality one can think of, but, what is even worse, he denies My very existence.’ 16. ‘Imagine that! He exists because of Me. I am the one who pumps his heart, it is I who digests his food, it is I who takes care of his blood circulation and so on; and yet, he denies Me! But what else can one expect from egoistic fools?’ 17. ‘While alive, these maniacs imagine they are on top of the world and are having a great time. But they do not know how fleeting all this experience is.’ 18. ‘Arjuna, these demons in human form get flung again and again into inferior births through the Law of Karma. A million times they have to go the misery of life and death. People complain of just one birth. In that case, should one make advance bookings for millions of births?’ 19. ‘Three-fold is the gateway to hell – lust, anger and greed. All these must be severely shunned.’

20. ‘Arjuna, I hope you have clearly understood what exactly ought to be the internal priorities. Everything must flow from a pure heart. The feelings of the pure heart must be converted into a sacred plan of action by a pure mind. And the holy commands of the mind must be translated into loving and selfless action by a pure body acting in conjunction with unpolluted senses. Follow this formula, and you will come to Me for sure!’

 

END OF CHAPTER 16