Chapter 16, Verse 15
आढ्योऽभिजनवानस्मि कोऽन्योऽस्ति सदृशो मया | यक्ष्ये दास्यामि मोदिष्य इत्यज्ञानविमोहिताः ||१६-१५||
āḍhyo.abhijanavānasmi ko.anyo.asti sadṛśo mayā . yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣya ityajñānavimohitāḥ ||16-15||
Meaning
16.15 "I am rich and born in a noble family. Who else is equal to me? I shall perform sacrifices. I shall give (charity). I shall rejoice," thus deluded by ignorance.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
The boasting continues, now flaunting wealth and pedigree: 'I am rich, I am nobly born — who can compare with me?' Even the sacred acts of yajna (sacrifice) and dana (charity) are recruited into the ego's display. 'I shall sacrifice, I shall give, I shall rejoice' — but these are spoken as conquests, performances to enhance the self rather than offerings that dissolve it.
Krishna seals the verse with a diagnosis: ajnana-vimohitah, deluded by ignorance. Herein lies a subtle and sobering teaching — that even virtuous-seeming deeds, charity and worship themselves, can be poisoned at the root by pride. What matters is not only the outward act but the inner stance behind it. When 'I' am the center even of my giving, generosity becomes another ornament of ego. The same deed can elevate or entrap, depending entirely on whether the self is being offered up or puffed up.
💡 Key Takeaway
Even charity and worship turn hollow when performed to glorify the ego rather than to dissolve it.
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.