A declaration · reflective in mood · easy to enter
“Without discernment, conduct collapses and truth disappears.”
People of a shadowed nature do not know what should be pursued and what should be withdrawn from. In them, there is no purity, no noble conduct, and no truthfulness.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallywhat should be pursued · and · what should be withdrawn from · and · people · not · know · those of shadowed nature · not · purity · not · also · and · noble conduct · not · truthfulness · in them · exists
A shadowed nature cannot tell right action from wrong withdrawal. It also lacks purity, good conduct, and honesty.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga" (The Divine and Demoniac Natures).
Verse 7 sits in Chapter 16 of the Bhagavad Gita — Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga, "The Divine and Demoniac Natures". The chapter has 24 verses in total.
A contractor who no longer knows which shortcut is fine and which is fraud ends up lying to clients as habit. Krishna describes that loss of discernment, followed by the loss of purity, good conduct and truth.
Did you like this verse?
The asuric cannot tell what to take up and what to leave, and so lose purity, conduct and truth.
What this verse means
A shadowed nature cannot tell right action from wrong withdrawal. It also lacks purity, good conduct, and honesty.
Context & commentary
Krishna continues describing the shadowed temperament to Arjuna. After naming the two kinds of human nature, he now shows how the destructive one behaves: it cannot discern what to do or avoid, and it loses basic integrity.
What it looks like today
A contractor who no longer knows which shortcut is fine and which is fraud ends up lying to clients as habit. Krishna describes that loss of discernment, followed by the loss of purity, good conduct and truth.
“You can judge a person by what they consistently fail to honor: restraint, cleanliness, conduct, and truth.”