Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 16, Verse 7
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुरासुराः।न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते।।
pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ
na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate
also searched as "pravrittim cha nivrittim cha jana na vidur asurah"
Translation
The demoniacal men neither know action nor renunciation. They have no cleanliness, nor right conduct, nor truth.
Vāṇi's rendering
The dark ones cannot tell what to do from what to refrain from. No purity in them, no conduct, no truth.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| प्रवृत्तिम्pravṛttim | going forward into action — what should be taken up |
| चca | and |
| निवृत्तिम्nivṛttim | turning back from action — what should be left alone |
| चca | and |
| जनाःjanā | people (the visarga falls away before the next na) |
| नna | not |
| विदुःvidur | know (visarga becomes r before āsurāḥ) |
| आसुराःāsurāḥ | the dark ones, those of demonic make |
| नna | not |
| शौचम्śaucam | purity, cleanness inside and out |
| नna | not (joined as nāpi) |
| अपिapi | even |
| चca | and (joined as cācāro) |
| आचारःācāraḥ | right conduct, the way one carries oneself |
| नna | not |
| सत्यम्satyam | truth |
| तेषुteṣu | in them |
| विद्यतेvidyate | is found |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 Verse 7 mean?
It names the first failure of the āsuric make: not cruelty, but blindness to pravṛtti and nivṛtti — what to do and what to leave undone. Once that line goes, purity, conduct and truth go with it. Krishna is tracing a collapse back to its source, not cataloguing sins.
What does pravrittim cha nivrittim cha jana na vidur asurah teach us?
That discernment comes before morality, not after it. A person who cannot tell what should be taken up from what should be set down will still act — energetically, even sincerely — and still do harm. Truthfulness and clean conduct grow out of that one distinction. Lose it, and they have nothing to grow from.
Who are the asuras Krishna is describing here?
Not a race of demons somewhere else. Āsura names a disposition, and Krishna is careful to say janāḥ — people. It is a way of living available to anyone on any morning. That is why the verse is placed in front of Arjuna, and why it is worth reading slowly.
Why does the verse mention purity, conduct and truth together?
Because they fall together. Śauca is how you keep yourself, ācāra is how you meet others, satya is how you speak. Each rests on knowing where the line runs. When that knowledge goes, all three drain out quietly, and the person rarely notices the moment it happened.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Notice what is missing first: not kindness, not devotion — discernment. The dark ones cannot tell doing from not-doing. They act, often furiously, but the line between what should be taken up and what should be left alone has gone blurred, and everything after that follows: no purity, no conduct, no truth. Krishna is not describing monsters. He is describing what happens when that one line is lost. Arjuna is asked to look at this list because his own hand trembles over exactly that line today. You have a thing you know you should refrain from, and a reason ready for why not today. Watch that reason.