Greed says more will finally satisfy me.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
इदमद्य मया लब्धमिमं प्राप्स्ये मनोरथम् |इदमस्तीदमपि मे भविष्यति पुनर्धनम् ||१६-१३||
idamadya mayā labdhamimaṃ prāpsye manoratham . idamastīdamapi me bhaviṣyati punardhanam ||16-13||
Use this verse to detect the more-more loop.
Meaning
This has been gained by me today; I shall fulfill this desire. This is mine, and more wealth will also be mine in the future.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
The asuric mindset speaks in terms of endless acquisition and ownership.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna now lets the inner voice of greed speak. The pattern is always more: more gain, more control, more possession, more future wealth. This voice can be tracked as a psychological loop.
Read the traditional 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.
In daily life
Notice the inner voice of endless acquisition.
A person may keep upgrading income goals without ever defining enough.
Try this today
Define enough in one area of life.
I release the endless more loop.Reflect
What does my mind say I must get next?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘मया लब्धम्’ mean in this verse?
The Gita 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 14.12Greed, busyness, and restless craving are the fingerprints of rajas — spot them and ask whether you act from purpose or from hunger.
- Verse 18.27When work springs from greed and craving, you swing endlessly between elation and grief.
- Verse 1.6 · SanjayaDo not inflate the difficulty of obstacles as a pre-emptive excuse for incomplete effort.
Swipe left for 16.14 · Ego that worships control becomes destructive.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 16.13
Who says Bhagavad Gita 16.13, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 16.13, in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga (Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 16.13 mean?
This has been gained by me today; I shall fulfill this desire. This is mine, and more wealth will also be mine in the future. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 16.13 for daily life?
Notice the inner voice of endless acquisition. A person may keep upgrading income goals without ever defining enough.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 16.13 mean?
इदम् अद्य — this today; मया लब्धम् — has been gained by me; इमम् प्राप्स्ये — this I shall obtain; मनोरथम् — desire, wish of the mind; इदम् अस्ति — this is (already mine).
Where does verse 16.13 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 13 of 24 in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 16.14.