Chapter 16, Verse 16
अनेकचित्तविभ्रान्ता मोहजालसमावृताः | प्रसक्ताः कामभोगेषु पतन्ति नरकेऽशुचौ ||१६-१६||
anekacittavibhrāntā mohajālasamāvṛtāḥ . prasaktāḥ kāmabhogeṣu patanti narake.aśucau ||16-16||
Meaning
16.16 Bewildered by many a fancy, entangled in the snare of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall into a foul hell.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna shows where the proud, grasping life finally arrives. The mind, pulled in a hundred directions by competing fancies (aneka-chitta-vibhranta), is no longer one's own; it is moha-jala-samavrita, wrapped in the net of delusion like a creature caught in a snare. Attachment to pleasure (prasakta kama-bhogeshu) has become an addiction that steers the whole life.
The result is patanti narake 'shuchau — they fall into a foul hell. This 'hell' need not be read only as a postmortem destination; it is also the present condition of a mind enslaved to craving and scattered beyond peace. A life of insatiable pursuit is itself a kind of torment, an inner squalor that no possession can cleanse. Krishna's image is unsparing because the stakes are real: the lower nature, left unchecked, does not merely diminish a person — it engulfs them.
💡 Key Takeaway
A mind scattered by endless cravings and tangled in delusion creates its own hell, here and now.
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.