BHAGAVAD-GITA 16:9

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 16:9

 

etam drstim avastabhya

nastatmano 'lpa-buddhayah

prabhavanty ugra-karmanah

ksayaya jagato 'hitah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

etam--this; drstim--vision; avastabhya--accepting; nasta--having lost;

atmanah--themselves; alpa-buddhayah--the less intelligent;

prabhavanti--flourish; ugra-karmanah--engaged in painful activities;

ksayaya--for destruction; jagatah--of the world; ahitah--unbeneficial.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves

and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works

meant to destroy the world.

 

PURPORT

 

The demoniac are engaged in activities that will lead the world to

destruction. The Lord states here that they are less intelligent. The

materialists, who have no concept of God, think that they are

advancing. But according to Bhagavad-gita, they are unintelligent and

devoid of all sense. They try to enjoy this material world to the

utmost limit and therefore always engage in inventing something for

sense gratification. Such materialistic inventions are considered to

be advancement of human civilization, but the result is that people

grow more and more violent and more and more cruel, cruel to animals

and cruel to other human beings. They have no idea how to behave

toward one another. Animal killing is very prominent amongst demoniac

people. Such people are considered the enemies of the world because

ultimately they will invent or create something which will bring

destruction to all. Indirectly, this verse anticipates the invention

of nuclear weapons, of which the whole world is today very proud. At

any moment war may take place, and these atomic weapons may create

havoc. Such things are created solely for the destruction of the

world, and this is indicated here. Due to godlessness, such weapons

are invented in human society; they are not meant for the peace and

prosperity of the world.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.