A scattered desire-driven mind creates suffering.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
अनेकचित्तविभ्रान्ता मोहजालसमावृताः |प्रसक्ताः कामभोगेषु पतन्ति नरकेऽशुचौ ||१६-१६||
anekacittavibhrāntā mohajālasamāvṛtāḥ . prasaktāḥ kāmabhogeṣu patanti narake.aśucau ||16-16||
Use this verse when your mind feels trapped in loops.
Meaning
Bewildered by many thoughts, covered by the net of delusion, attached to desire and enjoyment, they fall into an impure hellish state.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Delusion and pleasure-addiction scatter the mind and degrade life.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
The verse is psychologically powerful: scattered attention, delusion loops, and pleasure addiction create inner hell even before any future consequence.
Read the traditional 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.
In daily life
Simplify attention and reduce compulsive pleasure loops.
A person stuck between social media, cravings, comparison, and fantasy may feel mentally fragmented.
Try this today
Remove one distracting pleasure-loop for one hour.
I free my mind from the net of delusion.Reflect
What desire-loop is scattering my mind?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘मोहजालसमावृताः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on consequences, in other chapters
- Verse 3.32Cynical fault-finding closes the door to growth — the refusal to even try wisdom, not lack of opportunity, is what keeps people bound.
- 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 2.65In the state of divine grace, all sorrows are destroyed and wisdom quickly stabilizes in a serene mind.
- Verse 13.21Nature does all the doing; suffering arises only when the witnessing self forgets itself and claims the experience as its own.
Swipe left for 16.17 · Worship without humility becomes performance.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 16.16
Who says Bhagavad Gita 16.16, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 16.16, in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga (Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 16.16 mean?
Bewildered by many thoughts, covered by the net of delusion, attached to desire and enjoyment, they fall into an impure hellish state. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 16.16 for daily life?
Simplify attention and reduce compulsive pleasure loops. A person stuck between social media, cravings, comparison, and fantasy may feel mentally fragmented.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 16.16 mean?
अनेकचित्तविभ्रान्ताः — bewildered by many a fancy, with scattered minds; मोहजालसमावृताः — enveloped in the net of delusion; प्रसक्ताः — attached, addicted; कामभोगेषु — to sensual enjoyments; पतन्ति — they fall.
Where does verse 16.16 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 16 of 24 in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 16.17.