daivī sampadvimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā | mā śucaḥ sampadaṁ daivīm abhijāto’si pāṇḍava ||16.5||
Spiritual wealth is considered (to be) for freedom, (the wealth) of asura, for bondage. Pāndava (Arjuna)! Do not grieve. You are born to spiritual wealth.
The accomplishment for daivīsampat is for the purpose of freeing oneself - moksa. In our daily life we see ourselves having freedom when we can do or have what we like and can avoid what we don’t like. But we never realise that actually it is a bondage when our happiness is held hostage by our own likes and dislikes. And the problem is that we never can control the situation based on what we desire to be. The notion that “I am bound” expressing as “I am wanting to be different”. There is certain measure of acceptance we can have towards the world and this body-mind-sense-complex, but it can never be total unless we can see the non-dual between me, the world and Īśvara. Only when the total fulfilment - pūrnatvam is there then total freedom is there. And cultivation of daivīsampat is for the mature mind to see this oneness.
The āsurīsampat, on the other hand, is meant for further bondage. Since the not-knowing one’s limitless nature, the wrong conclusion that “I am bound” is already there, but with these characteristics of āsurīsampat, the bondage is perpetuated.
dvau bhūtasargau loke’smin daiva āsura eva ca | daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta āsuraṁ pārtha me śṛṇu ||16.6||
In this world, there are two (types of) created beings, the divine, and the adharmic. The divine have been extensively spoken of. Listen to me,
Pārtha (Arjuna)! About the characteristics belonging to the asura.
pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidurāsurāḥ | na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate ||16.7||
People who have qualities belonging to the asuras do not know what is to be done and what is to be withdrawn from. There is neither inner cleanliness nor proper conduct, nor truthfulness in them. The person that we know as an asura, who is unable to see anything beyond the sensory enjoyments, doesn’t know pravṛttiṁ - to be done karma and nivṛttiṁ - not to be done karma. Sankarācārya connects them to the means for gaining what is desired - purusārtha. Whether one wants artha or kāma, there is something to be done and what to be refrained from which is based on dharma.
Further, they do not know how to keep the mind clean - na śaucaṁ. In other saying, they do not know how to avoid hatred, jealous, etc. They also lack of religious discipline and proper conduct in interacting - nāpi cācāro. Their speech is lacking in truth - na satyam.
asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad āhuranīśvaram | aparasparasambhūtaṁ kimanyatkāmahaitukam ||16.8||
They say, this world (of people) is untruthful, without (an ethical) basis, godless, and is born of the union of male and female, is driven by passion and nothing else.
Not only they live such a life, they also hold it as a philosophy and make it known by others. They say people are untruthful - asatyam because themselves tell lies, they expect that other also lie. Their own behaviour colours their perception of the world. They believe that telling lies is necessary for survival.
Further, they consider that people have no ethical basis for their behaviour - apratiṣṭhaṁ. Actually our interactions are based on dharma - adharma, on the understanding that there is proper and improper behaviour leading to punya and pāpa. These people do not think so. They have the philosophy that as long as one lives, one should live happily even if incurring debt, they need to spend. After death, this body will reduce to ash, so there is nothing called punya - pāpa. Any means is justified to securing happiness, and there is no retribution for the means employed.
Since they don’t accept the law of punya - pāpa, there is also no god who governs the laws. They say the world is godless - anīśvara.
If there is no punya - pāpa, how are people born? They say the only cause for people to be born is the coming together of male and female - aparasparasambhūtaṁ which is driven by lust alone- kāmahaituka.