Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 16, Verse 5: Krishna to Arjuna — Daivāsura-Sampad-Vibhāga-Yoga
The divine endowment leads to liberation, the demonic to bondage. Grieve not, Arjuna, you were born into the divine.
Bhāṣyakāra purports
- Śaṅkaraadvaita
The daivi (divine) sampad (endowment) is for vimoksha (liberation) from samsara-bandhana (the bondage of transmigration); the asuri (demonic) sampad is for nibandha (firm bondage). Shankara notes that on hearing this, Arjuna inwardly deliberated whether he belonged to the demonic or divine endowment — and Krishna reads that inner anxiety. The Lord reassures him: grieve not, for you are born marked for the daivi sampad, your welfare is assured.
- Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita
The daivi sampad consists in conformity to Bhagavan's own ajna (command) and leads sequentially to vimoksha and ultimately to mat-prapti (attainment of the Lord himself). The asuri sampad, defined as violation of that ajna, leads to adhogati (downward descent). Ramanuja specifies that Arjuna, being the son of the dharmika (righteously leading) Pandu, was born into the divine endowment — his lineage itself is evidence of his fitness for kainkarya.
- Madhvadvaita
Madhva's bhashya is present but highly terse: Arjuna is pratijata (born in correspondence) to the daivi sampad. The brevity signals Madhva's characteristic insistence that the jiva's belonging to the divine endowment is a settled ontological fact, not a matter of internal struggle. The jiva's eternal distinction from Hari makes the divine endowment a dependent gift, not a self-cultivated achievement — Arjuna's worry is therefore misplaced from the start. [NOTE: Madhva's extant commentary on this verse is minimal; the above extends from his direct phrasing rather than absent text.]
- Vallabhaśuddhādvaita
Vallabha distinguishes two modes of the daivi sampad: pushti (grace-sustained, beyond varna-ashrama rules) and maryada (regulated, duty-bound) — both lead to vimoksha but by different routes. The asuri sampad entails nitaram bandha (extremely tight bondage) arising from ajnad-durjnatva (the opacity of Krishna's command). Having heard this, the terrified Arjuna is ashvasta (reassured): you are born into the daivi sampad, and Pandu himself was of deva-svabhava (divine nature) and devansha (divine lineage), hence addressing Arjuna as Pandava is itself the grounds of his assurance.
- Śrīdharabhakti
Sridhara frames the two sampads as conferring or denying adhikara (competence) for tattva-jnana (knowledge of truth): one endowed with the daivi sampad is qualified for the jnana Krishna has been teaching; one bound by the asuri sampad remains a nitya-samsarin (perpetual transmigrator). On hearing this Arjuna's mind was vyakula (agitated) by the sandeh (doubt) whether he himself was qualified — Sridhara captures the pastoral function of Krishna's reassurance as a direct answer to that existential doubt.
- Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti
Madhusudana gives the fullest doctrinal anatomy: the daivi sampad is the sattvik, nishkama (desireless) kriya specific to one's varna and ashrama, leading through sattva-shuddhi (purity of being) and Bhagavad-bhakti (devotion to the Lord) to jnana-yoga and finally kaivalya (liberation). The asuri sampad is the rajasic-tamasic, sahamkara (ego-laden), phala-sandhi-purva (fruit-seeking) action forbidden by shastra — it leads to niyata samsara-bandha (certain bondage). Madhusudana then resolves Arjuna's anxiety: you were born abhilakshya the daivi sampad, you carry prag-arjita-kalyana (previously accumulated merit) and bhavi-kalyana (future welfare) both — the other Pandavas too are known for the daivi sampad, so how much more you.