Bhagavad Gita 16.10
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 10 of 24
कामम् आश्रित्य दुष्पूरं दम्भमानमदान्विताः । मोहाद् गृहीत्वा ऽसद्ग्राहान् प्रवर्तन्ते ऽशुचिव्रताः ॥
kāmam āśritya duṣpūraṃ dambha-māna-madānvitāḥ | mohād gṛhītvā 'sad-grāhān pravartante 'śuci-vratāḥ ||
Driven by insatiable kāma, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, gripping false notions through moha — impure resolves.
Word by word (3)
- kāmam āśritya duṣpūraṃ dambha-māna-madānvitāḥ
- — taking refuge in (āśritya) insatiable (duṣpūra = hard to fill) desire (kāmam), endowed with (anvitāḥ) hypocrisy (dambha), pride (māna), and arrogance/intoxication (mada)
- mohād gṛhītvā 'sad-grāhān
- — through delusion (mohāt), having taken up (gṛhītvā) false/wrong notions (asat-grāhāḥ = grasping what is unreal/wrong) — moha → wrong-view → wrong-grasping
- pravartante 'śuci-vratāḥ
- — they proceed (pravartante) with impure vows/resolves (aśuci-vrataḥ) — their most determined commitments are spiritually impure
Taking refuge in insatiable desire, full of hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance, seizing wrong notions through delusion, they proceed with impure resolves.
A modern analogy
A drug-addict who has convinced themselves the drug is medicine — they act with great 'conviction' (vrataḥ), but the conviction itself is poisoned (aśuci). Their desire for the drug is insatiable (duṣpūra); their justifications are false (asat-grāhāḥ). This verse describes how the demonic character's inner life — its motivational structure — is systematically distorted.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
MISSING — SH Ch.16 V10 not indexed; Ganguli and Telang used as primary. [1]
Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance, holding evil ideas through delusion, they work with impure resolve. [4]
Taking shelter in insatiable desire, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, adopting bad notions through delusion, they work with impure resolves. [9]
Cherishing desires that are insatiable, and endued with hypocrisy, conceit and folly, they adopt false notions through delusion and engage in unholy practices. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
They torture their body's elements AND Me who dwell within — know these fools to be of āsurī resolve.
The final daivī qualities: tejas, kṣamā, dhṛti, śauca, adroha, nātimānitā — belonging to one born to divine nature.
Many thoughts, moha-net covering them, addicted to kāma-enjoyments — they fall into impure naraka.
Those who practice ghora tapas without śāstric sanction, driven by dambha, ahaṃkāra, kāma and rāga — āsurī tapas.
The evildoer, the deluded, the lowest of men, those whose knowledge māyā has stolen — these do not take refuge in Me.
Verse 10 of 24 · back to Chapter 16