Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 16, Verse 6
Verse 6
The Yoga of the Divine and Demonic Natures
There are two types of created beings in this world — the divine and the demonic. The divine has been described at length. Now hear from Me about the demonic, O Partha.
Context & Meaning
Krishna establishes a binary that runs through all of human history: there are two orientations of being — the divine and the demonic — and every human life tends toward one or the other. This is not a claim about fixed destiny but about direction — the consistent trajectory of choices, habits, and orientations that shape a character over time. The divine nature has been described in detail; now Krishna turns to a fuller account of the demonic. The word śṛṇu (hear, listen) is an invitation to careful attention — not because the demonic is entertaining, but because clear-eyed recognition of what degrades is itself a protection against it. You cannot avoid what you cannot name.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainMadhvacharya
DvaitaThe two-fold division of created beings is not a theological afterthought but a structural reality of existence. God creates beings with different natures, and these natures tend to express themselves consistently. This does not foreclose the possibility of change — the Gita's entire purpose is to turn a wavering soul toward the divine. But it does acknowledge that there are strong tendencies, deep orientations, that must be honestly recognised before they can be addressed.