Chapter 16, Verse 13
इदमद्य मया लब्धमिमं प्राप्स्ये मनोरथम् | इदमस्तीदमपि मे भविष्यति पुनर्धनम् ||१६-१३||
idamadya mayā labdhamimaṃ prāpsye manoratham . idamastīdamapi me bhaviṣyati punardhanam ||16-13||
Meaning
16.13 "This has been gained by me today; this desire of mine I shall fuffil; this is mine and this wealth also shall be mine in future."
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Now Krishna lets the demoniac mind speak in its own voice, and the effect is startlingly familiar. The inner monologue is a ledger of acquisition: this I have gained today, this wish I will yet fulfil, this is mine and that too shall be mine. Every clause turns on 'me' and 'mine' — the relentless arithmetic of the grasping ego.
What makes the portrait so penetrating is that there is nothing exotic here. This is the ordinary chatter of an ambition unanchored from any higher purpose, forever leaning into the next gain. Notice that the present is never enough; even what is already possessed merely fuels appetite for more. By voicing these thoughts so plainly, Krishna invites us to overhear our own minds and ask whether the same restless tallying runs beneath our days — and what, if anything, we are accumulating toward.
💡 Key Takeaway
Listen to the mind's endless ledger of 'mine' and 'more' — that running tally is the very voice of bondage.
Related Verses
दम्भो दर्पोऽभिमानश्च क्रोधः पारुष्यमेव च | अज्ञानं चाभिजातस्य पार्थ सम्पदमासुरीम् ||१६-४||
dambho darpo.abhimānaśca krodhaḥ pāruṣyameva ca . ajñānaṃ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadamāsurīm ||16-4||
16.4 Hypocrisy, arrogance and self-conceit, anger and also harshness and ignorance, belong to one who is born for a demoniacal state, O Partha (Arjuna).
द्वौ भूतसर्गौ लोकेऽस्मिन्दैव आसुर एव च | दैवो विस्तरशः प्रोक्त आसुरं पार्थ मे शृणु ||१६-६||
dvau bhūtasargau loke.asmindaiva āsura eva ca . daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta āsuraṃ pārtha me śṛṇu ||16-6||
16.6 There are two types of beings in this world, the divine and the demoniacal; the divine has been described at length; hear from Me, O Arjuna, of the demoniacal.
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुरासुराः | न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते ||१६-७||
pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca janā na vidurāsurāḥ . na śaucaṃ nāpi cācāro na satyaṃ teṣu vidyate ||16-7||
16.7 The demoniacal know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither purity, nor right conduct nor truth is found in them.