एतां दृष्टिम् अवष्टभ्य नष्टात्मानो ऽल्पबुद्धयः । प्रभवन्त्य् उग्रकर्माणः क्षयाय जगतो ऽहिताः ॥
etāṃ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmāno 'lpa-buddhayaḥ | prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ kṣayāya jagato 'hitāḥ ||
Holding that nihilistic view, ruined selves of limited mind and fierce action, they rise as enemies of the world.
Word by word (3)
- etāṃ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmānaḥ
- — relying on (avaṣṭabhya) this view (etāṃ dṛṣṭim — the V8 materialist worldview), they are ruined-self (naṣṭātmānaḥ = those whose self is lost/destroyed) — the view itself destroys the self
- alpa-buddhayaḥ prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ
- — of small/limited understanding (alpa-buddhayaḥ), they arise (prabhavanty) with fierce/cruel actions (ugra-karmāṇaḥ) — the logic of destruction follows from the small view
- kṣayāya jagato 'hitāḥ
- — for the destruction (kṣayāya) of the world (jagataḥ), hostile/harmful ones (ahitāḥ) — they become enemies of cosmic order, not just personal wrongdoers
Relying on this view — having lost their true self, of small understanding, given to fierce actions — they rise as enemies of the world, working for its destruction.
A modern analogy
A person who believes there are no other people on earth (solipsism) will act very differently from someone who knows they share the world. The āsurī's 'anīśvara' worldview is a kind of cosmic solipsism — no God, no dharma, no real others — and the result is action without restraint, inevitably destructive.
V9 traces the causal chain: wrong view (V8) → ruined self + small intelligence + fierce action (V9) → world-destruction. This is Ch.16's most socially significant insight: individual character defect becomes systemic harm when that character holds a position of power and acts from a nihilistic worldview. The word 'ahitāḥ' (enemies of the world) elevates this from personal ethics to civilizational stakes.
Naṣṭātmānaḥ (ruined selves) is a powerful compound: the ātman is not destroyed — it cannot be — but the RELATIONSHIP to one's own ātman is lost. The person no longer functions from their genuine self but from the ego-overlay. This is the ultimate consequence of the V8 worldview: denying the transcendent ground means losing access to one's own transcendent nature.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect, of fierce deeds, rise as the enemies of the world for its destruction. [1]
Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect and fierce deeds, rise as the enemies of the world for its destruction. [4]
Holding this view, these ruined selves, these men of small intelligence and of fierce deeds, rise up as enemies of the world for its destruction. [9]
Depending on this view, these men of lost selves, little intelligence, and fierce deeds, these enemies of the world, are born for the destruction of the universe. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Tamas — born of ignorance — deludes all beings and binds through carelessness, laziness, and sleep.
Tāmasic karma: begun from delusion, ignoring consequences, waste, injury to beings, and one's own capacity.
Sattva, rajas, or tamas — each can become dominant over the others, alternating in every mind.
Sitting as a neutral — unmoved by guṇas, knowing 'guṇas act' — firm, unshaken, the pure witness.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.