प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुर् आसुराः । न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते ॥
pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ | na śaucaṃ nāpi cācāro na satyaṃ teṣu vidyate ||
The āsurī know neither pravṛtti nor nivṛtti; purity, good conduct, and truth are all absent in them.
Word by word (3)
- pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ
- — the āsurī persons (janā āsurāḥ) do not know (na viduḥ) pravṛtti (what to act upon, the path of engagement) and nivṛtti (what to refrain from, the path of withdrawal) — fundamental ethical/spiritual ignorance
- na śaucaṃ nāpi cācāraḥ
- — neither purity (śauca) nor good conduct (ācāra) — the two foundations of dharmic life absent in the āsurī character
- na satyaṃ teṣu vidyate
- — nor is truth (satya) found (vidyate) in them (teṣu) — the most fundamental social-ethical quality absent at the root
Those of demoniac nature do not know what actions to pursue or what to avoid. Neither purity, nor proper conduct, nor truth is found in them.
A modern analogy
A person who doesn't know the rules of the road is dangerous — not because they're evil, but because their ignorance endangers others. The āsurī person's not-knowing pravṛtti/nivṛtti is more dangerous: they don't know when to act and when to stop, when to hold on and when to let go. Their road has no lanes.
V7 gives the root diagnosis of the āsurī character: not knowing the distinction between pravṛtti (what to pursue) and nivṛtti (what to abandon). This is spiritual confusion at the most basic level — not viciousness but ignorance of orientation. The three absences (śauca, ācāra, satya) are the three pillars of dharmic society. Their absence creates the social toxicity the āsurī person propagates.
Pravṛtti-mārga and nivṛtti-mārga are the two great paths in Vedic tradition: pravṛtti = the householder's engaged life (yajna, karma, upāsana); nivṛtti = the renunciant's withdrawn life (jñāna, sannyāsa). Not knowing either means having no framework for orienting action — a character without a compass.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Neither action nor inaction do the demoniac men know; neither purity nor good conduct nor truth is found in them. [1]
The persons of Asurika nature know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither is purity found in them nor good conduct, nor truth. [4]
The demoniacal know neither correct action nor retirement from action. Neither purity, nor good conduct, nor truth is found in them. [9]
Persons of demoniac nature know not inclination or disinclination. Neither purity, nor good conduct, nor truth exist in them. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Action renounced through yoga, doubt cut by knowledge, self-possessed — actions cannot bind that person.
Renouncing ordained/niyata karma is not appropriate; its abandonment through delusion is declared tāmasic.
The evildoer, the deluded, the lowest of men, those whose knowledge māyā has stolen — these do not take refuge in Me.
Six āsurī qualities: dambha, darpa, abhimāna, krodha, pāruṣya, ajñāna — all rooted in ego-assertion and ignorance.
More daivī qualities: ahiṃsā, satya, akrodha, tyāga, śānti, apaiśuna, dayā, aloluptva, mārdava, hrī, acāpala.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.