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← Chapter 16: The Yoga of the Division between the Divine and Demoniac Natures

Verse 16.19

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

तानहं द्विषतः क्रूरान्संसारेषु नराधमान् | क्षिपाम्यजस्रमशुभानासुरीष्वेव योनिषु ||१९||

Transliteration (IAST)

tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān saṁsāreṣu narādhamān | kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu ||19||

Word-by-Word Meanings

tān-them
aham-I
dviṣataḥ-hateful
krūrān-cruel
narādhamān-lowest of mankind
kṣipāmi-I hurl/cast
ajasram-repeatedly/forever
āsurīṣu yoniṣu-into demoniac wombs

Translation

These hateful, cruel, and vile people - the lowest of mankind - I repeatedly cast into demoniac wombs in the cycle of birth and death.

Commentary

Shankaracharya explains that this is not divine punishment but the natural consequence of their own karma - God as the dispenser of karmic results places them in births suited to their nature. Ramanuja notes that 'ajasram' (repeatedly) indicates this is not a one-time event but a continuing cycle until they reform. Madhva emphasizes that God's justice is perfect - the punishment fits the nature of the offense.

Themes

karmadharma