Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 Verse 21 भगवद् गीता अध्याय 16 श्लोक 21 त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः। कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत्।।16.21।। English Translation - Swami Gambirananda 16.21 This door of hell, which is the destroyer of the soul, is of three kinds-passion, anger and also greed. Therefore one should forsake these three. English Translation - Swami Sivananda 16.21 Triple is the gate of this hell, destructive of the self lust, anger and greed; therefore one should abandon these three. English Translation - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan 16.21. To the hell, three-fold is the gate that ruins the Self : [They are] desire, anger as well as greed. Hence one should avoid these three. English Commentary - Swami Sivananda 16.21 त्रिविधम् triple? नरकस्य of hell? इदम् this? द्वारम् gate? नाशनम् destructive? आत्मनः of the self? कामः lust? क्रोधः anger? तथा also? लोभः greed? तस्मात् therefore? एतत् this? त्रयम् three? त्यजेत् (one) should abandon.Commentary Lust? anger and greed? -- these highway robbers will cause a man to fall into the dark abyss of hell? misery or grief. These are the three fountainheads of misery. These three constitute the gateway leading to the lowest of hells. These are the enemies of peace? devotion and knowledge. When these evil modifications of the mind arise in it? man loses his balance or poise and discrimination and commits various evil actions.Lust? anger and greed denote selfblindness and ignorance? for there are no Vasanas? wants? anger? or greed in Brahman or the pure immortal Self.Narakasya dvaram The gate to hell The gate leading to hell. The self is destroyed by merely entering at the gate? i.e.? it is not fit to do any right exertion to attain the goal of life.As this gate causes selfdestruction? let everyone renounce these three. (Cf.III.47)In the next verse the man who has abandoned these three evils is highyl eulogised. English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's 16.21 Idam, this; dvaram, door; narakasya, of hell-for entering it; which is the nasanam, destroyer; atmanah, of the soul; is trividham of three kinds. It is that by the mere entry into which the soul perishes, i.e., it ceases to be fit for attaining any human goal. hence it is said that it is the door which is the destroyer of the soul. Which is that? Kamah, passion; krodhah, anger; and also lobhah, greed. Tasmat, therefore; tyajet, one shoud forsake; etat trayam, these three. Since this door is the destroyer of the soul, therefore one should renounce this group of three-passion etc. This is a eulogy of renunciation. English Translation of Commentary - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan 16.21 See Coment under 16.22 English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary 16.21 Those three which constitute the gateway of this hell in the shape of demoniac nature, and are destructive of the self (Atman) - are known as desire, wrath and greed. The nature of these has already been explained. Gateway (Dvara) means the path, the cause. Therefore, one should renounce these three. Therefore, since they constitute the cause of the extremely dreadful Naraka, one should wholly renounce this triad - desire, wrath and greed. Commentary - Chakravarthi Ji Thus the Lord has described the nature of the asura in detail. The Lord has also said, “Do not worry, O Arjuna, you are of the divine nature.” Then he says that there are only three basic tendencies of the asuras in this verse. Rudra Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary Lord Krishna concisely enunciates that lust, greed and anger are the three gates leading straight to hell. All the demoniac vices and characteristics iterated previously are the symptoms of lust, greed and anger which are the root cause and basis of all the others. These three are very destructive and degenerative for a human being completely obscuring discrimination and the consciousness of the atma or immortal soul and hence to be shunned and avoided by all means, for their influence propels one directly into lower, debased life forms and reincarnations in hellish existences. So lust, greed and anger must be renounced, abandoned and rejected if one wants to avoid residing in hell. Brahma Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary Shri Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary Lord Krishna confirms that the demoniac nature is in itself a hellish condition of life perpetuating more and more degraded hellish existences. The three portals to hellish existence are lust, greed and anger which completely destroy and ruin all opportunities for advancing in spiritual consciousness. Lust, greed and anger are the foundations for all the other vices and sinfulness described previously which run rampant among the demoniac. The word dvaram means portal and gate inferring the cause. The words nasanam atmanah means destructive or even suicidal denoting how utterly negative lust, greed and anger are in evolving the consciousness to commune with the immortal soul. Therefore Lord Krishna emphasizes that lust, greed and anger must be permanently abandoned, fully relinquished and completely neutralised since these three voracious vices comprise the cause that leads a jiva or embodied being directly to dreaded naraka or the hellish planets. Kumara Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary Lord Krishna confirms that the demoniac nature is in itself a hellish condition of life perpetuating more and more degraded hellish existences. The three portals to hellish existence are lust, greed and anger which completely destroy and ruin all opportunities for advancing in spiritual consciousness. Lust, greed and anger are the foundations for all the other vices and sinfulness described previously which run rampant among the demoniac. The word dvaram means portal and gate inferring the cause. The words nasanam atmanah means destructive or even suicidal denoting how utterly negative lust, greed and anger are in evolving the consciousness to commune with the immortal soul. Therefore Lord Krishna emphasizes that lust, greed and anger must be permanently abandoned, fully relinquished and completely neutralised since these three voracious vices comprise the cause that leads a jiva or embodied being directly to dreaded naraka or the hellish planets. Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 16.21Trividham narakasyedam dwaaram naashanamaatmanah; Kaamah krodhastathaa lobhas tasmaadetat trayam tyajet. Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 16.21tri-vidham—three types of; narakasya—to the hell; idam—this; dvāram—gates; nāśhanam—destruction; ātmanaḥ—self; kāmaḥ—lust; krodhaḥ—anger; tathā—and; lobhaḥ—greed; tasmāt—therefore; etat—these; trayam—three; tyajet—should abandon