दम्भो दर्पो ऽभिमानश् च क्रोधः पारुष्यम् एव च । अज्ञानं चाभिजातस्य पार्थ सम्पदम् आसुरीम् ॥
dambho darpo 'bhimānaś ca krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca | ajñānaṃ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadam āsurīm ||
Six āsurī qualities: dambha, darpa, abhimāna, krodha, pāruṣya, ajñāna — all rooted in ego-assertion and ignorance.
Word by word (3)
- dambho darpo 'bhimānaś ca
- — dambha (hypocrisy/ostentation — showing what one is not), darpa (arrogance/insolence — inflated self-opinion), abhimāna (conceit/ego-pride) — the ego-triad
- krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca
- — krodha (anger), pāruṣya (harshness/cruelty in speech and action) — the behavioral triad that flows from the ego-triad
- ajñānaṃ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadam āsurīm
- — and ajñāna (ignorance — fundamental misperception of reality), belonging to one born (abhijātasya) to the demonic wealth (āsurī sampad), O Pārtha — ignorance as root-cause
Hypocrisy, arrogance, excessive self-conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance — these belong to one born for the demonic nature, O Arjuna.
A modern analogy
Where the daivī qualities form a garden (diverse, nourishing, growing together), the āsurī qualities form a weed patch: dambha, darpa, abhimāna, krodha, pāruṣya are all variations of the same root-weed — ego-assertion — and ajñāna is the soil that keeps them thriving. Remove ajñāna (by jñāna-yoga, by daivī-sampad cultivation), and the weeds have no ground.
V4 gives the āsurī catalog — just 6 qualities versus 26 for daivī. The brevity is deliberate: the demonic path is a simple cascade from ego (dambha/darpa/abhimāna) to destructive behavior (krodha/pāruṣya) to the root cause (ajñāna). The daivī path is complex and multidimensional because virtue is rich; the āsurī path is simple because delusion has one root. V4 sets up V5's reassurance to Arjuna.
Placing ajñāna (ignorance) LAST in the āsurī list is philosophically significant — it reveals that ignorance is not just an unfortunate circumstance but the ultimate sin: the voluntary or habitual refusal to see clearly. All the other āsurī qualities (dambha, darpa, etc.) could be traced back to avidyā — the confusion of the changing with the permanent, of the ego with the Self. This makes the cure obvious: jñāna (knowledge) which eliminates ajñāna.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Ostentation, arrogance and self-conceit, anger as also insolence, and ignorance, belong to one who is born, O Partha, for a demoniac lot. [1]
Ostentation, arrogance, and self-conceit, anger as also harshness and ignorance, belong to one who is born, O Partha, for an Asurika state. [4]
Hypocrisy, arrogance, self-conceit, anger, also harshness and ignorance — these, O Arjuna, belong to one born to a demoniacal nature. [9]
Hypocrisy, pride, conceit, wrath, rudeness and ignorance become his, O Partha, who is born to demoniac possessions. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The evildoer, the deluded, the lowest of men, those whose knowledge māyā has stolen — these do not take refuge in Me.
The final daivī qualities: tejas, kṣamā, dhṛti, śauca, adroha, nātimānitā — belonging to one born to divine nature.
The sound of righteous forces pierces the hearts of those who know they are on the wrong side.
The āsurī know neither pravṛtti nor nivṛtti; purity, good conduct, and truth are all absent in them.
The ego-apex: 'I am rich, well-born — who equals me? I'll sacrifice, give, rejoice.' — all deluded by ajñāna.
Many thoughts, moha-net covering them, addicted to kāma-enjoyments — they fall into impure naraka.