Bhagavad-gītā 17.5-6
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
aśāstra
—
not in the scriptures
The privative a- prefixed to śāstra. The whole verse hinges on this one syllable: take it away and the same austerity becomes sattvic. The austerity is not condemned for its severity — only for its unmooring.
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dambha
—
with pride, ostentation
Specifically the pride that displays itself — hypocritical showmanship. Not interior arrogance alone but its public performance. Kṛṣṇa names it first because it is usually the seed.
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ahaṅkāra
—
and egoism
Compound: ahaṁ ('I') + kāra ('the making'). The faculty that fabricates the false self. When austerity is offered to that false self instead of to the Lord within, the practice turns demoniac no matter how arduous.
-
karṣayantaḥ
—
tormenting
Causative present participle from √kṛṣ — to drag, to wear down. Not just discipline but active dragging-down of the body. The grammar makes it violent, not ascetic.
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mām
—
Me
Accusative of aham. The decisive word. Tapas not in śāstra does not merely harm the body — it tortures Kṛṣṇa Himself, the antaryāmī seated in the heart of that very body (mām antaḥ śarīra-stham). The body being tormented contains its own Lord; that is what makes such austerity not merely foolish but offensive.
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āsura - niścayān
—
demons (in resolve)
Compound: āsura (demoniac) + niścaya (settled resolve). Kṛṣṇa is not classifying their birth — He is classifying their fixed determination. The category is behavioural, and so escapable.
There are persons who manufacture modes of austerity and penance which are not mentioned in the scriptural injunctions. For instance, fasting for some ulterior purpose, such as to promote a purely political end, is not mentioned in the scriptural directions. The scriptures recommend fasting for spiritual advancement, not for some political end or social purpose. Persons who take to such austerities are, according to Bhagavad-gītā, certainly demoniac. Their acts are against the scriptural injunctions and are not beneficial for the people in general. Actually, they act out of pride, false ego, lust and attachment for material enjoyment. By such activities, not only is the combination of material elements of which the body is constructed disturbed, but also the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself living within the body. Such unauthorized fasting or austerities for some political end are certainly very disturbing to others. They are not mentioned in the Vedic literature. A demoniac person may think that he can force his enemy or other parties to comply with his desire by this method, but sometimes one dies by such fasting. These acts are not approved by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He says that those who engage in them are demons. Such demonstrations are insults to the Supreme Personality of Godhead because they are enacted in disobedience to the Vedic scriptural injunctions. The word acetasaḥ is significant in this connection. Persons of normal mental condition must obey the scriptural injunctions. Those who are not in such a position neglect and disobey the scriptures and manufacture their own way of austerities and penances. One should always remember the ultimate end of the demoniac people, as described in the previous chapter. The Lord forces them to take birth in the wombs of demoniac persons. Consequently they will live by demoniac principles life after life without knowing their relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If, however, such persons are fortunate enough to be guided by a spiritual master who can direct them to the path of Vedic wisdom, they can get out of this entanglement and ultimately achieve the supreme goal.
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa comments:
It has been stated in the previous chapter that those who are neglectful of Vedic authority (veda-
bāhya) can never be delivered from their bad fate. Now this is corroborated in the two texts beginning
aśāstra- [texts 5–6]. There are those who execute austerities, in defiance of the Vedas, which are enjoined in
their own concocted scriptures, and are horrible and cause distress to other living beings. These people are
characterized by hankering for sense gratification and by their stubborn insistence that “We can accomplish
everything on our own.” They abuse the physical elements that compose their bodies. They emaciate their
bodies by unnecessary fasting and so on. By their neglect, they also torment Me, the Supersoul dwelling
within their bodies. They are oblivious—devoid of understanding how to discriminate according to scripture.
You should know such persons, who are outside the scope of Vedic authority, to be demons. Thus it is im-
plied that the bad fate of such persons is unavoidable.
What conclusion can we draw from this? Those who worship Yakṣas and Rākṣasas according to their
natural faith may receive the potent mercy of Vedic authorities, and then, by developing some faith in the
revealed scriptures, their demoniac nature may subside. But those who worship demigods are factually in the
mode of goodness, so by the mercy of saintly association it will be easier for them to develop faith in scrip-
tural authority.
While reading these descriptions of the effects of the modes of nature on a person’s worship and
activities—and the following descriptions of food, sacrifices, austerities and charity—we naturally
place ourselves and others into categories of goodness, passion or ignorance.
Individuals are not, however, neatly influenced by only one mode. Rather, they are influenced by
unique and individual combinations of modes. The three modes of nature are thus compared to
colors: goodness to yellow, passion to red, and ignorance to blue. Nine colors are created by mix-
ing each color with the remaining two colors. By again mixing each of those nine with the other
eight colors, eighty-one varieties occur. We could continuing mixing colors again and again until an
unlimited palette of colors is created. Similarly, the three modes can be mixed into three, nine and
eighty-one combinations, or mixed again to form even more subtle combinations. Indeed, each
conditioned soul acquires an individually tailored body and set of circumstances in the material
world. At times, therefore, we find a person whose modes basically agree with ours, yet who is still
different from us. Our modes may correspond with another’s in terms of nine, or even eighty-one
shadings, but the more subtle shadings of modes between individuals must certainly exist.
Bhagavad Gita Notes
17.5 अशास्त्रविहितम् not enjoined by the scriptures? घोरम् terrific? तप्यन्ते practise? ये who? तपः austerity? जनाः men? दम्भाहङ्कारसंयुक्ताः given to hypocrisy and egoism? कामरागबलान्विताः by the force of lust and attachment.Commentary There are some who think that the mortification of the body is the proper means to attain the goal of life. They do this in order to attract the people and get money for the gratification of their senses. They stand on one leg with raised hands. This is not real Tapas. This is Tamasic Tapas. Bodily torture will not bring emancipation. These men are not acainted with even the first elements of the scriptures. They mock at the religious practices of the wise? elderly persons and jeer at learned men. They are puffed up with the vanity of their own greatness. They are proud of their wealth. They perform unauthorised austerities. These persons do severe austerities contrary to the scriptures on the strength of desire and attachment.They take even the lives of children to propitiate their deity. Instead of killing their egoism? they kill many innocent animals in the name of sacrifice but in reality they kill them to satisfy their own palate. Most horrible indeed They speak ill of the scriptures and wander about in the forest of delusion and infatuation. They follow the dictates of passion. They inflict pain on themselves and on others. They practise austerities which cause pain to themselves and to other living beings. Pitiable indeed is their lot. They are doomed to destruction.Kamaragabalanvitah may also be interpreted as possessed of lust? attachment and power.Dambha Ostentation The man of Dambha is desirous that all people should take him for a virtuous man and so he expresses to others his righteous nature. In reality he is not virtuous. He pretends to be what he is not.Ahankara Egoism The egoistic man thinks and feels that he is superior to others in the possession of all virtuous alities.Raga Extreme attachment to sensual objects.Bala Great power of enduring severe pain on account of Raga for sensual objects (pain that accrues from exertion in attaining and preserving the objects).Kama Lust Desire for any object.
- BG 17 05-06 - Bhakti Vikas Swami - Lika 2013-08-09
- BG 17 05-06 - Krishnanaam Prabhu - ISKCON Chowpatty 2010-02-03
- BG 17 05-06 - Sridhar Swami - Ljubljana 2002-01-22
- BG 17 05-10 - Chaitanya Charan Prabhu.MP3
- Priya Valabha Mataji BG 17-05-06 Hindi
- Balaram Shakti Pr BG 17-05-10 - 2020
- Balaram Shakti Pr BG 17-05-10
- Chaitanya Charan Pr BG 17-05-10 - When austerities become demoniac - 2013 Mumbai
- Jitamitra Pr Hindi Comments - BG 17-05-06 - 2016-01-22 EOK
- Nirantara Pr BG 17-05-06 - Faith in Modes of Nature - 2014-08-30
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 17-05-06 Tamil - 2018-04-17
- RSWP BG 17-05-06 - 2005-01-06 Philadelphia
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi BG 17-05 - Onward - 2020
- Shubha Krishna Pr BG 17-05 06 Hindi
- Bhakti Vikas Sw BG 17-05-06 - Divine and Demoniac Austerity and Penance
- JAS BG 17-05-22 - 2007-01-11
- JPS BG 17-05-06 - 1995-08-13 Bhaktivedanta Manor
- PrahladAnS BG 17-05-06 Slovenian Translation - Dejavnosti demonskih oseb - 2023-05-29 ISKCON Slovenia
- PrahladAnS BG 17-05-06 - Activities of Demoniac People - 2023-05-29 ISKCON Slovenia
- Sridhar Sw BG 17-05-06 - Austerities - Ljubljana 2002-01-22
- Sukadeva Sw Telugu BG 17-05-06
- Don't admire austerities not authorized by scripture.
- Recognize that ego-driven austerity is demoniac.
- Honor scripture's standard of austerity.
- Where have I admired ego-driven austerity?
- What scripture-authorized practice fits my path?
An austerity not lit by scripture is like a fire kindled inside the house — it consumes the very rooms it claims to purify. Pride pours the oil, ego strikes the match, and the body and the Lord within it both burn. True tapas is fire kept in the hearth where śāstra has laid the stones.
Hiraṇyakaśipu performed austerities so severe that ant-hills covered his body and the heat of his tapas scorched the universe. But the austerity was for one purpose: to defeat death and rule creation. It was unauthorized by śāstra in its aim, driven by dambha and ahaṅkāra, fueled by kāma and rāga.
Bhāgavatam shows the result: Brahmā gave him the boons he asked for, but the inner Lord — the same Lord whose body he was tormenting from within — eventually emerged from a pillar to end the project. Hiraṇyakaśipu is Kṛṣṇa's living illustration of āsura-niścayān: the demon-resolve described in this very verse.
Rāvaṇa too undertook fierce tapas — by one tradition cutting off his own heads in offering until Brahmā stopped him. The penance was real; the boons were genuine. But the aim was conquest, the fuel was pride, and the body being tortured housed the Supersoul whom Rāvaṇa was already in mounting opposition to.
The Rāmāyaṇa records the end: Rāma's arrow, every austerity-acquired boon notwithstanding. Tapas without śāstra-vidhi does not fail to produce results — it produces the wrong ones.
My note
Source: vedabase.io