आशापाशशतैर् बद्धाः कामक्रोधपरायणाः । ईहन्ते कामभोगार्थम् अन्यायेनार्थसञ्चयान् ॥
āśā-pāśa-śatair baddhāḥ kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ | īhante kāma-bhogārtham anyāyenārtha-sañcayān ||
Bound by hundreds of hope-nooses, devoted to kāma and krodha, they hoard wealth by unjust means for sense-enjoyment.
Word by word (3)
- āśā-pāśa-śatair baddhāḥ kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
- — bound (baddhāḥ) by hundreds (śataiḥ) of hope-nooses (āśā-pāśa), devoted/surrendered to (parāyaṇāḥ) kāma (desire) and krodha (anger) — two of the three gates to naraka
- īhante kāma-bhogārtham
- — they strive/seek (īhante) for the purpose of (artham) sense-enjoyment (kāma-bhoga) — the end toward which all their scheming points
- anyāyenārtha-sañcayān
- — hoards of wealth (artha-sañcayāḥ) accumulated through unjust/improper means (anyāyena) — the means are corrupt because the worldview (V8) provides no restraint
Bound by hundreds of bonds of hope, given over to desire and anger, they strive by unjust means to accumulate hoards of wealth for sensory gratification.
A modern analogy
Every hope is a fishing line you've cast into the future — each one capable of pulling you in a different direction. Hundreds of hope-lines simultaneously pulling create not progress but paralysis and bondage. And when the fish (desired object) doesn't bite, anger (krodha) arises. The āsurī is not free in their pleasure-seeking — they are the most tightly bound of all.
V12 is the practical-life verse: after the worldview (V7-9) and the motivational structure (V10-11), now the concrete behavior: wealth-hoarding by unjust means. The āśā-pāśa (hope-noose) image captures the paradox of desire: every new desire binds further. Kāma-krodha-parāyaṇa directly prefigures V21's 'three gates to naraka' (kāma, krodha, lobha).
Anyāyena (by unjust means) follows necessarily from the V8 worldview: if there is no dharma, no Īśvara, no cosmic law, then 'unjust' is only conventional, not ontological. The āsurī's ethics are pragmatic, not principled. This is the direct consequence of anīśvara cosmology — without a transcendent moral ground, 'just' and 'unjust' are only social conventions to be circumvented when convenient.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Bound by hundreds of bands of hope, given over to lust and wrath, they strive to secure by unjust means hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyment. [1]
Bound by a hundred ties of hope, given over to lust and wrath, they strive to secure by unjust means hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyment. [4]
Bound by hundreds of bonds of hope, devoted to desire and wrath, they strive to obtain by unlawful means hoards of wealth for the gratification of their desires. [9]
Fettered by the hundred nooses of hope, addicted to lust and wrath, they covet to obtain hoards of wealth by unjust means for the satisfaction of desires. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
More daivī qualities: ahiṃsā, satya, akrodha, tyāga, śānti, apaiśuna, dayā, aloluptva, mārdava, hrī, acāpala.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
Withstand desire and anger's force here in this body — that one is yoked, that one is happy.
One who abandons śāstra-vidhi to act from desire's impulse attains neither siddhi, nor sukha, nor the Supreme Goal.
Thinking → clinging → craving → anger. The chain of suffering begins in where you let your mind dwell.
The enemy is desire and anger, born of rajas — all-devouring, all-sinful. Know this as your internal enemy.