16.1 Abhayam, fearlessness; sattva-samsuddhih, purtiy of the mind (sattva), mentally avoiding fraud, trickery, falsehood, etc. in dealings, i.e., honest behaviour; jnana-yoga-vyavasthitih, persistence in knowledge and yoga-jnana means knowledge of such subjects as the Self, learnt from scriptures and teachers; yoga means making those things that have been learnt matters of one's own personal experience through concentration by means of withdrawl of the organs etc.; persistence, steadfastness, in those two, knowledge and yoga;-this [This-refers to all the three from 'fearlessness' to 'persistence in knowledge and yoga'.] is the principal divine characteristic which is sattvika (born of the sattva ality). That nature which may occur in persons competent in their respective spheres, [Persons treading the path of Jnana-yoga or Karma-yoga have sattvika alities. Some of the alities mentioned in the first three verses occur only in the former, whereas the others are found in both or only in the latter.-Tr.]-that is said to be their sattvika attribute.
Danam, charity, distribution of food etc. according to one's ability; and damah, control of the external organs-the control of the internal organ, santih, will be referred to later; yajnah, sacrifices-Agnihotra etc. sanctioned by the Vedas, and sacrifices in honour of gods and others [Others: Those in honour of the manes, humans and other beings. Brahma-yajna, the fifth sacrifice, is referred to separately by svadhyaya.] sanctioned by the Smrtis: svadhyayah, study of the Rg-veda etc. for unseen results; tapah, austerity, those concerning the body, etc., which will be stated (17.14-16); arjavam, rectitude, straigthforwardness at all times-.
Further,