The Bhagavad Gita Interpreted - Part 16

Krishna said: 

—Courage, inner virtue, constancy in My way, charity, temperance, sacrifice, contemplation of scripture, austerity, sincerity, peacefulness, veracity, lack of animosity, relinquishment, tranquility, fidelity, compassion, lack of avarice, courteousness, humility, perseverance, vitality, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, amity, and lack of pride. These are the divine qualities of man. The opposite of these are man's demonic qualities. 

—The divine qualities lead a man along My way, and he will find release from earthly bondage. But the demonic qualities ensnare man in life and in death, and he is enslaved. Arjuna, do not despair. You will find release, for your qualities are divine. 

—In the worlds of My creation, you will find some with divine qualities, and others with demonic. I have spoken at length of the divine; now let me describe the demonic. 

—Men with demonic qualities do not know when to act, nor when to refrain from action. Within them you will find impurity, bad conduct, and falsehood. 

—"The world is a lie," they say, "and God is a lie. There is only desire." 

—"There is no creation," they say, "nor any Creator. Lust alone produces birth." 

—They cling to these thoughts and this lack of perception. They are strangers to Me. Cruel and depraved, they pollute the world. In lying and lust and arrogance, they wander deluded, immersed in false doctrines. They are enemies, worshipping only the satisfaction of desires that can never be satisfied. Anxious and craving, they are bound to the world with as many chains as they have desires. 

—"I have fulfilled this wish," they say. "Tomorrow I will fulfill another." 

—"I have amassed great wealth," they say. "Tomorrow I will be wealthier still." 

—"I have slain my enemy," they say. "Tomorrow I will slay the rest." 

—"I am master; I am lord," they say. "I have fortune and power and happiness." 

—"I am wealthy and noble," they say. "None is my equal." 

—“I will offer sacrifice,” they say, "and donations, celebrating my success." 

—This they say, deluded and ignorant, enslaved by desire and driven by objects of desire. They imagine themselves kings on a royal road, but their way leads them only to hell. Esteeming themselves, absorbed in their pursuit of pleasures, they make sacrifices and offerings improperly, only to honor themselves. 

—Their strength is weakness; their pride, debasement; their pleasures, transient; their anger, self-destruction. They hate Me in themselves and in others. 

—Vile and wicked, they waste their lives on this ruinous road, dying again and again, reborn only to earthly desire. They wear their chains and fetters like a robe of honor. Foul and strutting, they follow this ruinous road through the gates of tormenting desire, suffocating anger, and insatiable greed. 

—Turn away from these three gates of hell. He who accepts My way never comes to these gates. He who rejects My way finds no rest and that ruinous road is his eternal home. For him, happiness and success are elusive and transient. Let My words guide you. In My teachings, be firm and unwavering, and you will know what to do, and what to refrain from doing. Knowing this, you know which road to take.