Bhagavad Gita · 16.20 · Yoga through Discerning the Divine and Demoniac Natures·20 of 24
असुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि।मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम् ॥
āsurīṁ yonim āpannā mūḍhā janmani janmani mām
aprāpyaiva kaunteya tato yānty adhamāṁ gatim
Sanskrit recitation
Choose a guide wiser than impulse · 16.17–16.24 · Teaching
Translation
Entering into demoniacal wombs and deluded, birth after birth, they do not attain Me, thus falling, O Arjuna, into a condition still lower than that.
Meaning
These degraded Asuras are cast into the demoniacal wombs. They are reduced to the very lowest condition or the most appalling state. They are cast into utter darkness. They fall into lower and yet lower wombs in response to their own satanic desires and actions and their extreme Tamasic nature. From the birth of a tiger, they will get the birth of a serpent from a serpents they will get the birth of a wormfrom that they will get the birth of a tree, etc. In Sanskrit the suffix Tara denotes comparative degree and Tama is superlative degree. These people get Nikrishtatama Yonis (the lowest wombs).They do not reach Me as their minds are filled with impurities, as they do not tread the path of righteousness in accordance with the injunctions of the scriptures. The diabolical nature is inimical to spiritual progress. Therefore, you will have to annihilate the evil tendencies by cultivating divine alities and the practice of regular meditation. Then and only then will you attain liberation.
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
- even
- mām
- me
- gatim
- destination
- yonim
- wombs
- yānti
- go
- tataḥ
- thereafter
- adhamām
- abominable
- aprāpya
- failing to reach
- kaunteya
- Arjun, the son of Kunti
- āsurīm
- demoniac
- āpannāḥ
- gaining
- mūḍhāḥ
- the ignorant
- janmani janmani
- in birth after birth
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