The Supreme Lord said: Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and yoga, charity, self-control, sacrifice, study of scripture, austerity, and uprightness —

Chapter 16 opens with one of the Gita's most practical catalogs: the qualities of the divine nature (daivī sampad). Krishna does not begin with metaphysics but with character — with the texture of a life lived rightly. The list begins with abhaya (fearlessness), which is not the absence of danger but the absence of the cringing, self-protective anxiety that distorts judgment and closes the heart. Next comes sattva-saṃśuddhi — purity of being, of motive, of inner atmosphere. Then jñāna-yoga-vyavasthiti — steady abiding in the path of knowledge, not occasional bursts of spiritual interest but a reliable orientation of the whole person toward truth. Dāna (giving), dama (self-restraint), yajña (ritual and sacrifice), svādhyāya (scripture study), tapas (austerity), and ārjava (straightforwardness) follow — each a pillar of the divine character.