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). V10 describes how the āsurī character's inner life — its motivational structure — is systematically distorted.
V10 shifts from the āsurī's cosmic worldview (V7-9) to their inner motivational structure. Where V7 showed what they DON'T know (pravṛtti-nivṛtti, śauca, satya) and V8-9 showed their world-view and consequences, V10 shows what they ARE driven by: insatiable kāma, the āsurī triad (dambha/māna/mada), and moha-induced wrong-grasping. This psychological portrait will continue through V11-20.
Aśuci-vrataḥ (impure vows) is a striking phrase — vrataḥ (vow/resolve) is normally sacred. Here the most determinedly held commitments are spiritually impure. This shows the āsurī character is not casual in its vice — it is systematically committed to wrong paths with as much energy as the daivī person is committed to right paths. The opposition is not between lazy and virtuous but between systematically misdirected and rightly directed energy.
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.
Many thoughts, moha-net covering them, addicted to kāma-enjoyments — they fall into impure naraka.
The evildoer, the deluded, the lowest of men, those whose knowledge māyā has stolen — these do not take refuge in Me.
Six āsurī qualities: dambha, darpa, abhimāna, krodha, pāruṣya, ajñāna — all rooted in ego-assertion and ignorance.
The ego-monologue: 'I gained this today. I'll get that next. This is mine — and more wealth will be mine too.'