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Bhagavad Gita · 9.12 · Yoga through the King of Sciences·12 of 34

मोघाशा 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.

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.

Word-by-word→
mogha-āśhāḥ
of vain hopes
mogha-karmāṇaḥ
of vain actions
mogha-jñānāḥ
of baffled knowledge
vichetasaḥ
deluded
rākṣhasīm
demoniac
āsurīm
atheistic
cha
and
eva
certainly
prakṛitim
material energy
mohinīm
bewildered
śhritāḥ
take shelter

Related verses

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