Gita 16.2

Chapter 16: Divine & Demonic

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Gita 16.2
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम्। दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम्॥

ahiṁsā satyam akrodhas tyāgaḥ śāntir apaiśunam dayā bhūteṣv aloluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīr acāpalam

"Non-violence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, tranquility, aversion to fault-finding, compassion for beings, freedom from covetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness—"

What This Means:

More divine qualities: non-violence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, peace, not criticizing others, compassion for all creatures, absence of greed, gentleness, modesty, and steadiness (not being flighty).

Going Deeper:

Continuing the list: (10) ahiṁsā—non-violence, (11) satya—truth, (12) akrodha—freedom from anger, (13) tyāga—renunciation, (14) śānti—tranquility, (15) apaiśuna—not slandering/fault-finding, (16) dayā bhūteṣu—compassion for all beings, (17) aloluptva—freedom from greed, (18) mārdava—gentleness, (19) hrī—modesty/shame at wrongdoing, (20) acāpala—steadiness, not fickle.

How To Apply This:

Notice: both inner qualities (freedom from anger) and outer conduct (non-violence) matter. Modesty (hrī) means appropriate shame when you act wrongly—not suppression but healthy conscience. Acāpala (steadiness) counters the restless seeking of novelty.

Key Sanskrit Terms:

ahiṁsā= non-violencesatyam= truthfulnessakrodhaḥ= freedom from angerdayā= compassion