Bhagavad Gita 9.12मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतसः।राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिताः ॥
moghāśhā mogha-karmāṇo mogha-jñānā vichetasaḥ
rākṣhasīm āsurīṁ chaiva prakṛitiṁ mohinīṁ śhritāḥ
Sanskrit recitation
How people reach for God · 9.11–9.25 · Teaching
Translation
They are possessed of the deceitful nature of demons and undivine beings, filled with vain hopes, vain actions, and vain knowledge that is senseless.
Hindi translation
जिनकी सब आशाएँ व्यर्थ होती हैं, सब शुभ-कर्म व्यर्थ होते हैं और सब ज्ञान व्यर्थ होते हैं अर्थात् जिनकी आशाएँ, कर्म और ज्ञान सत्-फल देनेवाले नहीं होते, ऐसे अविवेकी मनुष्य आसुरी, राक्षसी और मोहिनी फकृतिका आश्रय लेते हैं।
Meaning
They entertain vain hopes, for there can be no hope in perishable forms. It is vain hope because they run after transient objects and miss the Eternal. It is vain action, because it is not performed by them as sacrifice unto the Lord. The Agnihotra (a ritual) and other actions performed by them are fruitless, because they insult the Lord. They are senseless. They have no,discrimination. They have no idea of the eternal Self. They worship their body only. They behold no self beyond the body. They neglect their own Self. They do atrocious crimes and cruel actions. They rob others property and murder people. They partake of the nature of the demons and the undivine beings.The Rakshasa are Tamasic and the Asuras are Rajasic.Prakriti means here Svabhava (ones own nature).They see the external human body only. They have no knowledge of the Self that dwells within the body. They do not behold God in the universe. They life for eating and drinking only.He who entertains hope of getting the rewards of actions through mere Karma alone, without the grace of the Lord is one of empty hope and empty deed. Karmas are insentient. They cannot give rewards independently. The omniscient Lord Who knows the relationship between Karmas and their fruits can dispense them
After Swami Sivananda
How people reach for God· 9.11–9.25→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 9.11Fools disregard Me, clad in human form, not knowing My higher Being as the great Lord of…
9.12They are possessed of the deceitful nature of demons and undivine beings, filled with vain…
- 9.13But the great souls, O Arjuna, partaking of My divine nature, worship Me with a…
- 9.14Always glorifying Me, striving, firm in their vows, prostrating themselves before Me, they…
- 9.15Others also, sacrificing with the wisdom-sacrifice, worship Me, the All-Faced, as one,…
- 9.16I am Kratu; I am Yajna; I am the offering to the manes; I am the medicinal herbs and all…
- 9.17I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions, and the…
- 9.18I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the shelter, the friend,…
- 9.19As the sun, I give heat; I withhold and send forth the rain; I am immortality and also…
- 9.20The knowers of the three Vedas, the drinkers of Soma, purified of all sins, worshipping Me…
- 9.21They, having enjoyed the vast heaven, enter the world of mortals when their merit is…
- 9.22For those men who worship Me alone, thinking of no one else, for those ever-united, I…
- 9.23Even those devotees who, endowed with faith, worship other gods, worship Me alone, O…
- 9.24For I alone am the enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in reality,…
- 9.25The worshippers of the gods go to them; the ancestor-worshippers go to the manes; the…
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- eva
- certainly
- mohinīm
- bewildered
- āsurīm
- atheistic
- prakṛitim
- material energy
- śhritāḥ
- take shelter
- vichetasaḥ
- deluded
- rākṣhasīm
- demoniac
- mogha-āśhāḥ
- of vain hopes
- mogha-jñānāḥ
- of baffled knowledge
- mogha-karmāṇaḥ
- of vain actions
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