Uncontrolled desire distorts the whole personality.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
काममाश्रित्य दुष्पूरं दम्भमानमदान्विताः |मोहाद्गृहीत्वासद्ग्राहान्प्रवर्तन्तेऽशुचिव्रताः ||१६-१०||
kāmamāśritya duṣpūraṃ dambhamānamadānvitāḥ . mohādgṛhītvāsadgrāhānpravartante.aśucivratāḥ ||16-10||
Use this verse when craving feels endless.
Meaning
Taking shelter in insatiable desire, filled with hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance, holding false views through delusion, they act with impure resolve.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Insatiable desire creates pride, delusion, and impure action.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna shows the chain: desire that cannot be satisfied leads to hypocrisy, pride, false beliefs, and impure commitments.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna now peers into the inner machinery of the demoniac life. At its centre sits kama dushpuram — a desire that can never be filled, a thirst that drinking only deepens. Taking refuge in this bottomless craving, the person becomes possessed by dambha, mana, and mada: hypocrisy, conceit, and intoxicating pride.
The phrase asad-grahan, grasping false notions through moha (delusion), reveals the engine driving it all. These are not merely bad people but bewildered people, mistaking the unreal for the real and then committing to it with ashuchi-vrata, impure resolves. The tragedy is that they are earnest in their error, pursuing emptiness with full conviction.
The verse warns that unexamined desire does not stay quiet; it recruits the whole personality into its service, dressing delusion up as purpose.
In daily life
Do not believe every desire that feels urgent.
A person may feel an urgent need to shop, prove, or consume, but the desire may only grow after feeding it.
Try this today
Delay one craving and observe its story.
I do not let desire rule my clarity.Reflect
Which desire feels impossible to satisfy?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘दम्भमानमदान्विताः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on demoniac nature, in other chapters
- Verse 9.12When striving is rooted in ego and cut off from a deeper purpose, even our cleverest efforts tend to come to nothing.
- Verse 3.38Desire does not destroy your inner wisdom, only veils it — your clarity remains intact, waiting to shine once the covering is removed.
- Verse 7.20When desire narrows our vision, we chase gifts and forget the Giver — notice when devotion has shrunk to a means of getting.
- Verse 17.9Constantly chasing intense stimulation — in food or in life — thrills for a moment but breeds agitation and suffering over time.
Swipe left for 16.11 · Pleasure-centered life creates endless anxiety.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 16.10
Who says Bhagavad Gita 16.10, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 16.10, in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga (Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 16.10 mean?
Taking shelter in insatiable desire, filled with hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance, holding false views through delusion, they act with impure resolve. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 16.10 for daily life?
Do not believe every desire that feels urgent. A person may feel an urgent need to shop, prove, or consume, but the desire may only grow after feeding it.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 16.10 mean?
कामम् आश्रित्य — taking refuge in desire; दुष्पूरम् — insatiable, hard to fill; दम्भमानमदान्विताः — full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance; मोहात् — through delusion; गृहीत्वा — having grasped, holding.
Where does verse 16.10 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 10 of 24 in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 16.11.