Bhagavad Gita · 16.19 · Yoga through Discerning the Divine and Demoniac Natures·19 of 24
तानहं द्विषतः क्रूरान्संसारेषु नराधमान्।क्षिपाम्यजस्रमशुभानासुरीष्वेव योनिषु ॥
tān ahaṁ dviṣhataḥ krūrān sansāreṣhu narādhamān
kṣhipāmy ajasram aśhubhān āsurīṣhv eva yoniṣhu
Sanskrit recitation
Choose a guide wiser than impulse · 16.17–16.24 · Teaching
Translation
Those cruel haters, the worst among men in the world, I hurl those evil-doers into the wombs of demons only.
Meaning
Now listen to the manner in which I deal with all these demoniacal persons who injure people and who take delight in killing people and animals and who hate Me, the indweller of all bodies. I deprive them of their human state and reduce them to a lower condition as subhuman creatures. I hurl them into the wombs of the most cruel beings such as tigers, lions, scorpions, snakes and the like. For ever only means till they purify their hearts. There is no such thing as eternal damnation.Tan Those The enemies of those who tread the path of righteousness and the haters of virtuous persons.Naradhaman Worst among men because they are guilty of the wors evil deeds and they take delight in injuring virtuous persns and in killing persons and animals ruthlessly.Asurishu yonishu Wombs of Asuras Wombs of the most cruel beings such as tigers, lions and the like.
After Swami Sivananda
Choose a guide wiser than impulse· 16.17–16.24→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 16.17Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifices in name only for ostentation, contrary to scriptural ordinances.
- 16.18Given over to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust, and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies and in the bodies of others.
16.19Those cruel haters, the worst among men in the world, I hurl those evil-doers into the wombs of demons only.
- 16.20Entering into demoniacal wombs and deluded, birth after birth, they do not attain Me, thus falling, O Arjuna, into a condition still lower than that.
- 16.21There are three gates to this hell, destructive of the self: lust, anger, and greed; therefore, one should abandon these three.
- 16.22A person who is liberated from these three gates of darkness, O Arjuna, practices what is beneficial for them and thus goes to the Supreme Goal.
- 16.23He who, having cast aside the ordinances of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, does not attain perfection, nor happiness, nor the Supreme Goal.
- 16.24Therefore, let the scripture be thy authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the scriptures, thou shouldst act in this world.
Word-by-word→
- eva
- indeed
- aham
- I
- tān
- these
- ajasram
- again and again
- krūrān
- cruel
- yoniṣhu
- in to the wombs
- aśhubhān
- inauspicious
- kṣhipāmi
- I hurl
- āsurīṣhu
- demoniac
- dviṣhataḥ
- hateful
- nara-adhamān
- the vile and vicious of humankind
- sansāreṣhu
- in the material world
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