16.2 Twelve more, mostly negative Krishna speaks
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम्
दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम्
ahinsā satyam akrodhas tyāgaḥ śhāntir apaiśhunam
dayā bhūteṣhv aloluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīr achāpalam
harmlessness, truth, freedom from anger, letting go, calm, no fault-finding, compassion for beings, no craving, gentleness, modesty, no fickleness;
Explanation
Twelve more, and notice how many are absences.
Freedom from anger, no fault-finding, no craving, no fickleness — alongside harmlessness, truth, compassion, gentleness and modesty.
Roughly half the divine nature turns out to be things a person does not do. That is consistent with chapter 5's account of the released one, where every item on the list was a subtraction.
Word by word
- ahinsā
- non-violence
- satyam
- truthfulness
- akrodhaḥ
- absence of anger
- tyāgaḥ
- renunciation
- śhāntiḥ
- peacefulness
- apaiśhunam
- restraint from fault-finding
- dayā
- compassion
- bhūteṣhu
- toward all living beings
- aloluptvam
- absence of covetousness
- mārdavam
- gentleness
- hrīḥ
- modesty
- achāpalam
- lack of fickleness
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