Bg. 16.21 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मन: । काम: क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्‍त्रयं त्यजेत् ॥ २१ ॥

Verse text

tri-vidhaṁ narakasyedaṁ dvāraṁ nāśanam ātmanaḥ kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobhas tasmād etat trayaṁ tyajet

Synonyms

tri-vidham — of three kinds ; narakasya — of hell ; idam — this ; dvāram — gate ; nāśanam — destructive ; ātmanaḥ — of the self ; kāmaḥ — lust ; krodhaḥ — anger ; tathā — as well as ; lobhaḥ — greed ; tasmāt — therefore ; etat — these ; trayam — three ; tyajet — one must give up.

Translation

There are three gates leading to this hell – lust, anger and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

21. Lust, anger and greed, the three gates leading to hell, destroy the self. Therefore one should give up these three.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

21. Lust, anger and greed, the three gates leading to hell, destroy the self. Therefore one should give up these three.

Purport

The beginning of demoniac life is described herein. One tries to satisfy his lust, and when he cannot, anger and greed arise. A sane man who does not want to glide down to the species of demoniac life must try to give up these three enemies, which can kill the self to such an extent that there will be no possibility of liberation from this material entanglement.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Thus the Lord has described the nature of the asura in detail. The Lord has also correctly said, “Do not worry, O Arjuna, you are born of the divine nature.” (BG 16.5) To confirm that this is true, He then says that there are indeed three inborn tendencies of the asuras in this verse.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

“Who should men do who, hearing that the demonic nature leads to hell, desire to avoid that nature?” This verse answers. If they avoid these three things—lust, anger and greed—they can avoid the demonic nature.