Chapter Sixteen opens with a roll call. Krishna begins listing the qualities that belong to a person born with a divine nature. The very first quality he names is abhayam — fearlessness. Not recklessness, not bravado, but the deep-rooted absence of fear that comes when a person walks the path of truth. A farmer who has sown honest seeds does not lie awake worrying about the harvest.
Next comes purity of heart — keeping the inner self clean the way one keeps a home clean, day after day. Then steadfastness in the yoga of knowledge: not just learning about the soul and the Supreme, but staying rooted in that understanding even when life shakes you.
Charity, self-control, yajna, study of scripture, austerity, and straightforwardness round out this first set. These are not extraordinary feats reserved for sages in forests. They are everyday choices — giving when you can, holding your tongue when provoked, reading something that lifts the mind, and being the same person in private that you are in public.