Bhagavad Gita · 7.15 · Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment·15 of 30
न मां दुष्कृतिनो मूढाः प्रपद्यन्ते नराधमाः।माययापहृतज्ञाना आसुरं भावमाश्रिताः ॥
na māṁ duṣhkṛitino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante
narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛita-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśhritāḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Why people seek · 7.15–7.19 · Teaching
Translation
The evil-doers and the deluded, who are the lowest of men, do not seek Me; those whose knowledge is destroyed by illusion follow the ways of demons.
Meaning
These three kinds of people have no discrimination between right and wrong, the Real and the unreal. They commit murder, robbery, theft and other kinds of atrocious actions. They speak untruth and injure others in a variety of ways. Those who follow the ways of the demons take the body as the Self like Vivochana and worship it with flowers, scents, unguents, nice clothes and palatable foods of various sorts. They are deluded souls. They try to nourish their body and do various sorts of evil actions to attain this end. Therefore they do not worship Me. Ignorance is the root cause of all these evils. (Cf.XVI.16and20)
After Swami Sivananda
Why people seek· 7.15–7.19→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
7.15The evil-doers and the deluded, who are the lowest of men, do not seek Me; those whose knowledge is destroyed by illusion follow the ways of demons.
- 7.16Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of wealth, and the wise, O Lord of the Bharatas.
- 7.17Of them, the wise who are ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excel; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and they are dear to Me.
- 7.18Indeed, all these are noble; however, I consider the wise man as My very Self; for, he is steadfast in mind and established in Me alone as the supreme goal.
- 7.19At the end of many births, the wise man comes to Me, realizing that all this is Vaasudeva (the innermost Self); such a great soul (Mahatma) is very hard to find.
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- mām
- unto me
- bhāvam
- nature
- āsuram
- demoniac
- māyayā
- by God’s material energy
- prapadyante
- surrender
- mūḍhāḥ
- the ignorant
- āśhritāḥ
- surrender
- nara-adhamāḥ
- one who lazily follows one’s lower nature
- duṣhkṛitinaḥ
- the evil doers
- apahṛita jñānāḥ
- those with deluded intellect
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