Chapter 16, Verse 20
आसुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि | मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम् ||१६-२०||
āsurīṃ yonimāpannā mūḍhā janmani janmani . māmaprāpyaiva kaunteya tato yāntyadhamāṃ gatim ||16-20||
Meaning
16.20 Entering into demoniacal wombs and deluded, birth after birth, not attaining Me, they thus fall, O Arjuna, into a condition still lower than that.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna completes the trajectory of the unredeemed lower nature: birth after birth (janmani janmani) in deluded conditions, the soul sinks ever further from the Divine. Each life lived in mudha (delusion) deepens the very ignorance that caused it, and so the descent accelerates — a sobering picture of how patterns, left unchecked, compound.
Yet hidden in this dark verse is a profound assurance. The whole catastrophe is summed up as mam aprapya — 'not attaining Me.' The entire tragedy of the demoniac path is, at bottom, the loss of connection with God. This implies its remedy: the moment that connection is recovered, the descent halts. No soul is hurled beyond reach; the door of grace, taught throughout the Gita, is never finally bolted. Krishna lays bare the depth of the abyss precisely so that Arjuna will treasure the path of light and turn, while he can, toward the One.
💡 Key Takeaway
The deepest fall is simply losing connection with the Divine — and that connection, once sought, can always be restored.
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.