Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (110 page)

kṣayāya jagato 'hitāḥ

SYNONYMS

etām-
thus;
dṛṣṭim-
vision;
avaṣṭabhya-
accepting;
naṣṭa-
lost;
ātmānaḥ-
self;
alpa-buddhayaḥ-
less intelligent;
prabhavanti-
flourish;
ugra-karmāṇaḥ-
in painful activities;
kṣayāya-
for destruction;
jagataḥ-
of the world;
ahitāḥ-
unbeneficial.

TRANSLATION

Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world.

PURPORT

The demoniac are engaged in activities that will lead the world to destruction. The Lord states here that they are less intelligent. The materialists, who have no concept of God, think that they are advancing. But, according to
Bhagavad-gītā,
they are unintelligent and devoid of all sense. They try to enjoy this material world to the utmost limit and therefore always engage in inventing something for sense gratification. Such materialistic inventions are considered to be advancement of human civilization, but the result is that people grow more and more violent and more and more cruel, cruel to animals and cruel to other human beings. They have no idea how to behave toward one another. Animal killing is very prominent amongst demoniac people. Such people are considered the enemies of the world because ultimately they will invent or create something which will bring destruction to all. Indirectly, this verse anticipates the invention of nuclear weapons, of which the whole world is today very proud. At any moment war may take place, and these atomic weapons may create havoc. Such things are created solely for the destruction of the world, and this is indicated here. Due to godlessness, such weapons are invented in human society; they are not meant for the peace and prosperity of the world.

Bg 16.10

TEXT 10

TEXT

kāmam āśritya duṣpūraṁ

dambha-māna-madānvitāḥ

mohād gṛhītvāsad-grāhān

pravartante 'śuci-vratāḥ

SYNONYMS

kāmam-
lust;
āśritya
-taking shelter of;
duṣpūram-
insatiable;
dambha-
pride;
māna
-false prestige;
mada-anvitāḥ-
absorbed in conceit;
mohāt-
by illusion;
gṛhītvā
-taking;
asat
-nonpermanent;
grāhān-
things;
pravartante
-flourish;
aśuci-
unclean;
vratāḥ
-avowed.

TRANSLATION

The demoniac, taking shelter of insatiable lust, pride and false prestige, and being thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attracted by the impermanent.

PURPORT

The demoniac mentality is described here. The demons' lust is never satiated. They will go on increasing and increasing their insatiable desires for material enjoyment. Although they are always full of anxieties on account of accepting nonpermanent things, they still continue to engage in such activities out of illusion. They have no knowledge and cannot tell that they are heading the wrong way. Accepting nonpermanent things, such demoniac people create their own God, create their own hymns and chant accordingly. The result is that they become more and more attracted to two things-sex enjoyment and accumulation of material wealth. The word
aśuci-vratāḥ,
unclean vow, is very significant in this connection. Such demoniac people are only attracted by wine, women, gambling and meat eating; those are their
aśuci,
unclean habits. Induced by pride and false prestige, they create some principles of religion which are not approved by the Vedic injunctions. Although such demoniac people are most abominable in the world, still, by artificial means, the world creates a false honor for them. Although they are gliding toward hell, they consider themselves very much advanced.

Bg 16.11, Bg 16.12, Bg 16.11-12

TEXTS 11-12

TEXT

cintām aparimeyāṁ ca

pralayāntām upāśritāḥ

kāmopabhoga-paramā

etāvad iti niścitāḥ

kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ

īhante kāma-bhogārtham

anyāyenārtha-sañcayān

SYNONYMS

cintām-
fears and anxieties;
aparimeyām-
unmeasurable;
ca-
and;
pralaya-antām-
unto the point of death;
upāśritāḥ-
having taken shelter of them;
kāma-upabhoga-
sense gratification;
paramāḥ-
the highest goal of life;
etāvat-
thus;
iti-
in this way;
niścitāḥ-
ascertain;
āśā-pāśa-
entanglement in the network of hope;
śataiḥ-
by hundreds;
baddhāḥ-
being bound;
kāma-
lust;
krodha-
anger;
parāyaṇāḥ-
always situated in that mentality;
īhante-
desire;
kāma-
lust;
bhoga-
sense enjoyment;
artham-
for that purpose;
anyāyena
-illegally;
artha-
wealth;
sañcayān-
accumulate.

TRANSLATION

They believe that to gratify the senses unto the end of life is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus there is no end to their anxiety. Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification.

PURPORT

The demoniac accept that the enjoyment of the senses is the ultimate goal of life, and this concept they maintain until death. They do not believe in life after death, and they do not believe that one takes on different types of bodies according to one's
karma,
or activities in this world. Their plans for life are never finished, and they go on preparing plan after plan, all of which are never finished. We have personal experience of a person of such demoniac mentality, who, even at the point of death, was requesting the physician to prolong his life for four years more because his plans were not yet complete. Such foolish people do not know that a physician cannot prolong life even for a moment. When the notice is there, there is no consideration of the man's desire. The laws of nature do not allow a second beyond what one is destined to enjoy.

The demoniac person, who has no faith in God or the Supersoul within himself, performs all kinds of sinful activities simply for sense gratification. He does not know that there is a witness sitting within his heart. The Supersoul is observing the activities of the individual soul. As it is stated in the Vedic literature, the
Upaniṣads
, there are two birds sitting in one tree; the one is acting and enjoying or suffering the fruits of the branches, and the other is witnessing. But one who is demoniac has no knowledge of Vedic scripture, nor has he any faith; therefore he feels free to do anything for sense enjoyment, regardless of the consequences.

Bg 16.13, Bg 16.14, Bg 16.15, Bg 16.13-15

TEXTS 13-15

TEXT

idam adya mayā labdham

imaṁ prāpsye manoratham

idam astīdam api me

bhaviṣyati punar dhanam

haniṣye cāparān api

īśvaro 'ham ahaṁ bhogī

siddho 'haṁ balavān sukhī

ko 'nyo 'sti sadṛśo mayā

yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣya

ity ajñāna-vimohitāḥ

SYNONYMS

idam-
this;
adya-
today;
mayā-
by me;
labdham-
gained;
imam-
this;
prāpsye-
I shall gain;
manoratham-
according to my desires;
idam-
this;
asti-
there is;
idam-
this;
api-
also;
me-
mine;
bhaviṣyati-
will increase in the future;
punaḥ-
again;
dhanam-
wealth;
asau-
that;
mayā-
by me;
hataḥ-
has been killed;
śatruḥ-
enemy;
haniṣye-
I shall kill;
ca-
also;
aparān-
others;
api-
certainly;
īśvaraḥ-
the lord;
aham-
I am;
aham-
I am;
bhogī-
the enjoyer;
siddhah-
perfect;
aham-
I am;
balavān-
powerful;
sukhī-
happy;
āḍhyaḥ-
wealthy;
abhijanavān-
surrounded by aristocratic relatives;
asmi-
I am;
kaḥ-
who else;
anyaḥ-
other;
asti-
there is;
sadṛśaḥ-
like;
mayā-
me;
yakṣye-
I shall sacrifice;
dāsyāmi-
I shall give in charity;
modiṣye-
I shall rejoice;
iti-
thus;
ajñāna-
ignorance;
vimohitāḥ-
deluded by.

TRANSLATION

The demoniac person thinks: "So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him; and my other enemy will also be killed. I am the lord of everything, I am the enjoyer, I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice." In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance.

Bg 16.16

TEXT 16

TEXT

aneka-citta-vibhrāntā

moha-jāla-samāvṛtāḥ

prasaktāḥ kāma-bhogeṣu

patanti narake 'śucau

SYNONYMS

aneka-
numerous;
citta-vibhrāntāḥ-
perplexed by anxieties;
moha-
of illusions;
jāla
-by a network;
samāvṛtāḥ
-surrounded;
prasaktāḥ
-attached;
kāma
-lust;
bhogeṣu-
sense gratification;
patanti
-glides down;
narake
-into hell;
aśucau
-unclean.

TRANSLATION

Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of illusions, one becomes too strongly attached to sense enjoyment and falls down into hell.

PURPORT

The demoniac man knows no limit to his desire to acquire money. That is unlimited. He only thinks how much assessment he has just now and schemes to engage that stock of wealth farther and farther. For that reason, he does not hesitate to act in any sinful way and so deals in the black market for illegal gratification. He is enamoured by the possessions he has already, such as land, family, house and bank balance, and he is always planning to improve them. He believes in his own strength, and he does not know that whatever he is gaining is due to his past good deeds. He is given an opportunity to accumulate such things, but he has no conception of past causes. He simply thinks that all his mass of wealth is due to his own endeavor. A demoniac person believes in the strength of his personal work, not in the law of
karma.
According to the law of
karma,
a man takes his birth in a high family, or becomes rich, or very well educated, or very beautiful because of good work in the past. The demoniac thinks that all these things are accidental and due to the strength of his personal ability. He does not sense any arrangement behind all the varieties of people, beauty, and education. Anyone who comes into competition with such a demoniac man is his enemy. There are many demoniac people, and each is enemy to the others. This enmity becomes more and more deep-between persons, then between families, then between societies, and at last between nations. Therefore there is constant strife, war and enmity all over the world.

Each demoniac person thinks that he can live at the sacrifice of all others. Generally, a demoniac person thinks of himself as the Supreme God, and a demoniac preacher tells his followers: "Why are you seeking God elsewhere? You are all yourselves God! Whatever you like, you can do. Don't believe in God. Throw away God. God is dead." These are the demoniac's preachings.

Although the demoniac person sees others equally rich and influential, or even more so, he thinks that no one is richer than him and that no one is more influential than him. As far as promotion to the higher planetary system is concerned, he does not believe in performing
yajñas
or sacrifices. Demons think that they will manufacture their own process of
yajña
and prepare some machine, by which they will be able to reach any higher planet. The best example of such a demoniac man was Rāvaṇa. He offered a program to the people by which he would prepare a staircase so that anyone could reach the heavenly planets without performing sacrifices, such as are prescribed in the
Vedas.
Similarly, in the present age such demoniac men are striving to reach the higher planetary systems by mechanical arrangement. These are examples of bewilderment. The result is that, without their knowledge, they are gliding toward hell. Here the Sanskrit word
mohajāla
is very significant.
Jāla
means net; like fishes caught in a net, they have no way to come out.

Bg 16.17

TEXT 17

TEXT

ātma-sambhāvitāḥ stabdhā

dhana-māna-madānvitāḥ