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Slogam 24

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16.24

tasmāc chāstraḿ pramāṇaḿ te

kāryākārya-vyavasthitau

jñātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaḿ

karma kartum ihārhasi

Translation

One should therefore understand what is duty and what is not duty by the regulations of the scriptures. Knowing such rules and regulations, one should act so that he may gradually be elevated.

Author Name:-Sri Ramanuja

Purport

Sri Ramanuja

16.24 Hence, the Sastra is to be the only authority for you in determining what should be done and what should not be done, viz., in deciding what ought to be accepted and what ought not be accepted. You should know, i.e., understand, neither more nor less than what constitutes the truth and the work enjoined in the injunctions of the Sastras which the Highest Reality called the Supreme Person revealed in the Vedas. The Vedic injunctions are supplemented by the Dharma-sastras, the Itihasas and the Puranas. The acts enjoined by them are the means for reaching Him and for pleasing Him. You should perform them; you should accept them alone.

Author Name:-Sri Adi Shankaracharya

Purport

Sri Adi Shankaracharya

16.24 Tasmat, therefore; sastram, the scripure; is te, your; pramanam, authority, the means of knowledge; karya-akarya-vyavasthitau, as regards the determination of what is to be done and what is not to be done. Therefore, jnatva, after understanding; that which is your own karma, duty; sastra-vidhana-uktam, as presented by scriptural injunction-vidhana is the same as vidhi, precept, in the form, ‘you should do’, ‘you should not do’; as presented by that; arhasi, you ought; kartum, to perform; it iha, here. ‘Here’ is used for pointing out the sphere in which one is intitled to perform his duties. F:gitadataR.K.GitaCHAPTER16.doc Page 1 of 1

Author Name:-Sri Madhvacharya

Purport

Sri Madhavacharya

Hari Om! The distinctive differences between the divine nature and the demoniac nature have been delineated in detail. Those deluded fools who imagine themselves as exercising the power of the Supreme Lord; who foolishly consider that creation manifested without a supreme consciousness, who deviously speculate and hypothecate that creation manifested on its own and so there is no Supreme Lord, who despite knowledge of the actual reality of the Supreme Lord’s omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence; still spitefully oppose Him and vindictively seek to undermine and destroy His creation. All these degraded jivas or embodied beings, verily are born of the demoniac nature and will descend into hellish existences in worlds of darkness. These unrepentant demoniac jivas in wharever form they appear in, thinking of themselves as superior never surrender to the Supreme Lord or offer reverence to Him. Instead they blaspheme the Supreme Lord, ridicule His absolute instructions in the form of the Vedic scriptures and deride His devotees. Those who propagate that the Supreme Lord does not exist and is just an illusion are of the demoniac nature. Those who challenge the divine instructions of the Supreme Lord Krishna, those who contradict the eternal truths of the Vedic scriptures and those who dispute the eternal knowledge taught by the devotees of Lord Krishna are all also irrefutably possessed of the demoniac nature.

The birth of a jiva as a demigod, a demon or a human being is due to an inherent resonance towards beings such based upon previous activities in past lives. Because by possessing the attributes of any of them there is a natural affinity leading back towards them from from whence they came and hence there never can be any artificial change in disposition. Although it is possible for one to be born in the family of a demoniac line due to a curse like Prince Prahlad taking birth as the son of the demon king Hiranyakasipu; but this is not true demoniac nature manifesting and Prahlad heard the glories of the Supreme Lord from Narada Muni while in his mothers womb and right from early childhood exhibited his divine nature to the great chagrin and disappointment of his father. Like a crystal which appears dark when seen in the darkness those of the divine nature may appear to be demoniac because of circumstances. But it is only temporary and not even permanently present in a single life because such situations cannot alter the inherent divine attributes.

Therefore those of the divine nature quickly revive it within that selfsame life even if

born in inauspicious situations. Thus wherever and under whatever conditions those of the divine nature take birth there inherent divine attributes quickly fructify and activate them to quickly become eligible for association with a Vaisnava spiritual master who bestows devotion to the Supreme Lord Krishna and become qualified for communion with Him. That eligibility comes quickly is evidenced that Prahlad’s inherent divine attributes were so potent that He did not even have to wait until he was born but received instructions while in the womb. There are many blissful levels of communion with the Supreme Lord that those of the divine nature may partake of as there are various gradations within moksa or liberation from material existence. Thus devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna are incapable of not being grateful and joyous.

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Slogam 24

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16.24

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