Āsurīsampat

mārdavam - absence of cruelty. It comes from the word mrdu means soft. Softness is a kindness in attitude while interact with people. There are some people who are kind but very harsh in their expression, and some are soft but not doing what is to be done. But mārdavam is a softness which implies understanding and accommodation.

hrīḥ - a particular kind of shyness where one shying away from praise about oneself. It is a very natural modesty or humility.

acāpalam - absence of activity such as speech, hands, legs, etc. without purpose. Since it is an expression of restlessness or agitation of the mind, we should avoid it, so our mind will be calm and available to stay in ātmā-jñānam.

tejaḥ - inner brilliance. Sankarācārya defines it as the capacity to face difficulties with self-confidence.

ksamā - composure. Even when one is addressed by someone who is angry or assaulted in some way, there is no change within him. This is possible because one doesn’t internalise the other person’s behaviour, but just allows him to be who he is and waits for the disturbance to pass. One understands there should be a background for him to be like that.

dhrtiḥ - fortitude. Sankarācārya explains as attitude to put up with pain either physical or mental, not yielding to complaint.

śaucam - inner and outer cleanliness. External cleanliness means keeping the body, clothing, and the environment clean. This is an important discipline because it helps create a healthy frame of mind. Inner cleanliness is a mental disposition that is free from hatred, jealousy, etc.

adrohaḥ - absence of hurting. Since we have already discussed ahimsa, therefore adroha is to be taken as absence of even a thought of hurting another.

nātimānitā - absence of demand for respect.

All virtues mentioned in these three verses are characteristics of the deva. When human beings have them, they are said to have daivīsampat. Now Lord Krsna begins a description of the āsurīsampat, first briefly, then in detail. These characteristics are told here so that we know what to avoid. The idea is that in the avoidance of the negative, the positive is also cultivated.

dambho darpo’bhimānaśca krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca | ajñānaṁ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadam āsurīm ||16.4||

Pārtha (Arjuna)! The one who is born to the wealth of an asura, has hypocrisy with reference to dharma, pride, a tendency to demand respect, anger, harshness, and indeed, a lack of discrimination.

There are a lot of stories in the purana talked about the battle between deva and asura, as we can see now, represent our internal conflicts. Everybody enjoys the qualities of a deva to an extent, like absence of hurting, compassion, etc, are very natural, at least towards oneself. But the qualities of an asura are also there. Even if there is a person who seems to embody the qualities of an asura, it is not because he is bad but because his thinking is wrong. All conflicts first happen within, and then get expressed themselves in the external world. Every war is forest first waged in the mind. If it cannot be resolved internally, it will express itself externally.

But we resolve them within so that they do not find an external expression. If that resolving capacity is not there, a war erupts. The Mahabharata war could not be avoided only because of this asurīsampat of Duryodhana’s thinking.

dambhaḥ - hypocrisy with reference to dharma - dharma-dvajitva. Someone who has proclaimed himself as the one who follows dharma, doing noble actions, not for the benefit of others, but for his own recognition.

darpaḥ - pride, because of some knowledge or wealth, either inherited or earned, not understanding all the factors contributing to what he has.

abhimānaḥ - demanding respect from others.

krodhaḥ - anger, being expressed in the behaviour which is destructive, not only to himself, but also to others.

pārusyam - harshness in speech or any attitude towards others. Therefore in one of the śanti-patah we pray “jihva me madhumattama” - may my tongue (speech) be most sweet, for the purpose not to hurt others.

ajñānam - understanding without proper discrimination. Ignorance is not a problem, but the conclusions are distorted with reference to right and wrong and wreak havoc. It is one thing to find ourselves doing things that we wish we could avoid, but it is quite another to make a philosophy out of it.