Shloka 7
Nirmaryāda-saṃgrāma-varṇana — The Unbounded Clash and Bhīṣma’s Rallying Presence
हे अर्जुन! इस लोकमें भूतोंकी सृष्टि यानी मनुष्यसमुदाय दो ही प्रकारका है,” एक तो दैवी प्रकृतिवाला और दूसरा आसुरी प्रकृतिवाला। उनमेंसे दैवी प्रकृतिवाला तो विस्तारपूर्वक कहा गया, अब तू आसुरी प्रकृतिवाले मनुष्यसमुदायको भी विस्तारपूर्वक मुझसे सुन ।। प्रवृत्ति च निवृत्ति च जना न विदुरासुरा: । न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्य तेषु विद्यते,आसुरस्वभाववाले मनुष्य प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्ति--इन दोनोंको ही नहीं जानते52। इसलिये उनमें न तो बाहर-भीतरकी शुद्धि है, न श्रेष्ठ आचरण है और न सत्यभाषण ही है
arjuna uvāca | pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ | na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate ||
Arjuna said: People of demonic disposition do not understand either what should be pursued or what should be renounced. Therefore, among them there is neither purity (outer or inner), nor right conduct, nor truthfulness.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the ethical blindness of the āsuric temperament: it cannot discriminate between rightful engagement (pravṛtti) and rightful restraint (nivṛtti). This lack of discernment manifests as absence of purity, good conduct, and truth—three pillars of moral life.
In the Bhīṣma Parva context, a discourse is distinguishing types of human dispositions. Here, the speaker characterizes the āsuric type by its failure to recognize moral boundaries and by the resulting collapse of personal and social virtues.