Give And You Gain, Grab And You Lose

Sometimes you are incredibly good and divine. At other times, almost against your wish, the demon in
you surfaces and you become vicious and hurtful. Which is the real you?
We all have the devil in us; something that makes us pursue self-destructive ways. Yet, even the worst
among us has extraordinarily divine traits. The Bhagwad Gita in Chapter 16 speaks of daivim, divine
and asurim, demonic qualities. It is easy and pleasant to take to the demonic. The divine path is uphill
and unpleasant in the beginning. The Gita helps us steer clear of the evil in us and focus on the good.
Chapter 16 enumerates 26 qualities of the divine and six traits of the demonic.
Fearlessness, purity of heart and charity are some of the divine qualities enlisted. Fear arises from
ignorance, selfishness, viciousness and a sense of otherness. Prahlada, the child, was fearless against
the might of his father Hiranyakashyapa. Yet the most wealthy and powerful in the world are fearful!
Purity of heart comes with freedom from selfishness and desire. Get inspired with a higher ideal and
lower desires lose their grip on you. And objects of desire come to you unsought. When Nachiketa
wanted Realisation the pleasures and wealth of heaven were offered to him! Charity comes from
recognising the infinite benevolence of nature. Charity is paying dividend to the stakeholders in your
success. It is an attitude of giving - to all, at all times and in all circumstances. You become rich by
what you give. The attitude of grabbing impoverishes you.
The basic difference between the divine and demonic is knowledge. The divine have access to higher
knowledge while the demonic, deluded by greed, lust and ego, are ignorant of their potential. They
are confused about what to do and what not to. They are impure and lack good conduct. Resorting to
insatiable desire, of scant discrimination and savage deeds, such people cause destruction to
themselves and others.
You are a combination of matter and Spirit. You know only matter. You have no inkling of the Spirit in
you. Yet because Atman, Spirit, is our original nature It makes Its presence felt. Thus you attribute the
glory, splendour and grandeur of Atman to your individual personality. Worse still, you project the
dependence, weakness and finitude of the body, mind and intellect to Atman. The way out is
knowledge. Knowledge of the distinction between matter and Spirit. Then confusion ends. Misery and
grief vanish. You get established in happiness.
It all begins with a thought. You believe, wrongly, that acquisition of worldly objects will fill the
void. You give in to sensual pleasures. Having described the perils of yielding to devilish tendencies.
Krishna urges you to free yourself from the three gates of darkness desire, anger and greed. Anger
and greed are mutations of desire. When desire is fulfilled it leads to greed. When desire is obstructed
you get angry. Thus, either way desire leads to mental agitation. Everyone suffers from the disease of
more. Nobody understands the devastating effects of desire, your greatest enemy. The doors to your
soul are kept shut and you live and die without so much as a glimpse of your own power and
magnificence.
If you follow your divine nature you do yourself good and uplift others as well. You live a life of success
and happiness and eventually transcend the world to attain liberation.