Repeated delusion moves consciousness downward.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
आसुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि |मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम् ||१६-२०||
āsurīṃ yonimāpannā mūḍhā janmani janmani . māmaprāpyaiva kaunteya tato yāntyadhamāṃ gatim ||16-20||
Use this verse to choose purification before decline.
Meaning
Entering asuric wombs birth after birth, the deluded fail to attain Me, O Kaunteya, and go to a lower state.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Asuric tendencies block the soul from reaching Krishna.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna continues the warning: repeated delusion takes consciousness further from Him. The practical lesson is to treat ego, cruelty, greed, and hatred as urgent spiritual risks, not harmless personality traits.
Read the traditional 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.
In daily life
Take inner correction seriously before patterns deepen.
A person may think toxic anger is just my personality, but the Gita treats it as a path problem.
Try this today
Name one trait to purify this week.
I choose the path that brings me closer to Krishna.Reflect
Which trait is pulling me away from Krishna?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘आपन्नाः’ 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 6.41Spiritual effort is never lost — even an unfinished path leads to a fortunate rebirth to continue the journey.
- Verse 11.1 · ArjunaTrue teaching is received as grace, and its first gift is the quiet lifting of inner confusion.
- Verse 2.27Accept the inevitability of birth and death as natural law, and redirect the energy spent on grief toward present purposeful action.
Swipe left for 16.21 · Abandon desire, anger, and greed.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 16.20
Who says Bhagavad Gita 16.20, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 16.20, in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga (Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 16.20 mean?
Entering asuric wombs birth after birth, the deluded fail to attain Me, O Kaunteya, and go to a lower state. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 16.20 for daily life?
Take inner correction seriously before patterns deepen. A person may think toxic anger is just my personality, but the Gita treats it as a path problem.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 16.20 mean?
आसुरीम् योनिम् — demoniac womb / birth; आपन्नाः — having entered, attained; मूढाः — the deluded, foolish; जन्मनि जन्मनि — birth after birth; माम् अप्राप्य एव — without ever attaining Me.
Where does verse 16.20 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 20 of 24 in Chapter 16, Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 16.21.