अहंकारं बलं दर्पं कामं क्रोधं च संश्रिताः । माम् आत्मपरदेहेषु प्रद्विषन्तो ऽभ्यसूयकाः ॥
ahaṃkāraṃ balaṃ darpaṃ kāmaṃ krodhaṃ ca saṃśritāḥ | mām ātma-para-deheṣu pradviṣanto 'bhyasūyakāḥ ||
Taking refuge in ego, power, arrogance, kāma, krodha — they hate Me in their own bodies and in others.
Word by word (3)
- ahaṃkāraṃ balaṃ darpaṃ kāmaṃ krodhaṃ ca saṃśritāḥ
- — taking refuge in (saṃśritāḥ) egoism (ahaṃkāra), brute power (bala), arrogance (darpa), desire (kāma), and anger (krodha) — the five āsurī weapons
- mām ātma-para-deheṣu pradviṣantaḥ
- — they hate (pradviṣantaḥ) Me (mām) in their own bodies (ātma-deheṣu) and in those of others (para-deheṣu) — God present in all bodies is hated
- abhyasūyakāḥ
- — being malicious/envious (abhyasūyakāḥ) — the root character quality: resentful and destructive toward anything good or divine in others
Taking shelter in egoism, brute power, arrogance, desire, and anger, these malicious ones hate Me — present in their own bodies and in the bodies of others.
A modern analogy
When you damage a photograph of someone you love, you're technically damaging paper and ink — but the act is understood as an act against the person. Similarly, Krishna is present in all bodies (V15: sarvasya hṛdi saṃnivisṭaḥ). When the āsurī exploits, harms, or degrades any body — their own through self-abuse, others through violence — they are literally 'hating Krishna' in that body.
V18 is the theological heart of the āsurī section: their egotism, power-worship, and desire/anger are finally revealed as hatred of God. This connects the psychological portrait (V13-16) and the ritual corruption (V17) to the ultimate theological consequence. Because Krishna is in all hearts (V15), hating any being — including oneself — is hating Krishna. The āsurī doesn't know they're hating God; that's exactly the point of ajñāna.
This verse has profound implications for the understanding of violence and exploitation: all harm done to beings is ultimately harm directed at the divine Presence in them. The āsurī who 'saṃśritāḥ balam' (takes refuge in brute power) is using against the divine the very same logic of taking refuge — but in ego instead of God. The inversion is total: refuge in God → liberation; refuge in ahaṃkāra → naraka.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Given over to egotism, power, haughtiness, lust, and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own and others' bodies. [1]
Possessed of egoism, power, insolence, lust, and wrath, these malignant people hate Me in their own bodies and those of others. [4]
Indulging their vanity, brute force, arrogance, lust, and anger, they hate me in their own bodies and in those of others. [9]
Wedded to vanity, power, pride, lust and wrath, these revilers hate Me in their own bodies and those of others. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Through Vyāsa's grace, I heard this supreme secret Yoga directly from Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, speaking Himself.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
At the end of many births, the wise takes refuge in Me — 'Vāsudeva is all.' That great soul is exceedingly rare.
Taking refuge in Me for liberation from old age and death — they know Brahman, Adhyātma, and all of Karma.