tri-vidhaḿ narakasyedaḿ
dvāraḿ nāśanam ātmanaḥ
kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobhas
tasmād etat trayaḿ tyajet
Translation of Bhagavad Gita 16.21
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.
Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
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.
Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:
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.
Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:
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.
Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:
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.
Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:
Sri Madhvacharya did not comment on this sloka.
Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:
Lord Krishna has now ended descriptions of the basic details of the nature and characteristics of the demoniac. Now He strongly advises by any means to avoid the triple threat of lust, greed and anger which is the underlying root cause of all demoniac vices and evils. As soon as lust, greed and anger are abandoned all other vices and evils dissolve and dissapate. Birth in hellish existences has three doors in the form of the door of lust, the door of greed and the door of anger. As soon as anyone enters into any one of these three doors they become void of discrimination and their mind becomes apprehended and controlled by the senses. This causes complete chaos and utter ruin to any human being, blocking access to their higher nature and totally obscuring the consciousness of the atma or immortal soul which leads to moksa or liberation from material existence. The three doorways of lust, greed and anger causes one to perform such sinful and abominable activities that damnation is the only result and leads a human being directly to hell to suffer immensely for their sinful inequities. Hence one should be extremely vigilant to avoid these three doors and keep them far away at a safe distance.
Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:
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.
Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:
16.21-22 Trividham etc. Etaih etc. Because the traid of desire etc., constitute the gate to the hell, therefore one should avoid that. What has been stated should not be neglected on the assumption that it is [based on] the human word. On the other hand, there is the authority of the eternal scripture on this subject. This is said [here] –
Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:
tri-vidham narakasyedam
dvaram nasanam atmanah
kamah krodhas tatha lobhas
tasmad etat trayam tyajet
Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:
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.
