Chapter 16: The Divine and Demoniac Natures

Bg 16.11, Bg 16.12, Bg 16.11-12

TEXTS 11-12

cintam aparimeyam ca

pralayantam upasritah

kamopabhoga-parama

etavad iti niscitah

asa-pasa-satair baddhah

kama-krodha-parayanah

ihante kama-bhogartham

anyayenartha-sancayan



SYNONYMS

cintam— fears and anxieties; aparimeyam— unmeasurable; ca— and; pralaya-antam— unto the point of death; upasritah— having taken shelter of them; kama-upabhoga— sense gratification; paramah— the highest goal of life; etavat— thus; iti— in this way; niscitah— ascertain; asa-pasa— entanglement in the network of hope; sataih— by hundreds; baddhah— being bound; kama— lust; krodha— anger; parayanah— always situated in that mentality; ihante— desire; kama— lust; bhoga— sense enjoyment; artham— for that purpose; anyayena —illegally; artha— wealth; sancayan— accumulate.

TRANSLATION

They believe that to gratify the senses unto the end of life is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus there is no end to their anxiety. Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification.

PURPORT

The demoniac accept that the enjoyment of the senses is the ultimate goal of life, and this concept they maintain until death. They do not believe in life after death, and they do not believe that one takes on different types of bodies according to one's karma, or activities in this world. Their plans for life are never finished, and they go on preparing plan after plan, all of which are never finished. We have personal experience of a person of such demoniac mentality, who, even at the point of death, was requesting the physician to prolong his life for four years more because his plans were not yet complete. Such foolish people do not know that a physician cannot prolong life even for a moment. When the notice is there, there is no consideration of the man's desire. The laws of nature do not allow a second beyond what one is destined to enjoy.