Verse 16.9
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
एतां दृष्टिमवष्टभ्य नष्टात्मानोऽल्पबुद्धयः | प्रभवन्त्युग्रकर्माणः क्षयाय जगतोऽहिताः ||९||
Transliteration (IAST)
etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmāno 'lpa-buddhayaḥ | prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ kṣayāya jagato 'hitāḥ ||9||
Word-by-Word Meanings
etām dṛṣṭim-this view
avaṣṭabhya-holding/clinging to
naṣṭa-ātmānaḥ-lost souls/self-ruined
alpa-buddhayaḥ-of small intellect
ugra-karmāṇaḥ-of cruel deeds
kṣayāya-for the destruction
jagataḥ-of the world
ahitāḥ-harmful/enemies
Translation
Holding this view, these lost souls of small intellect and cruel deeds arise as enemies of the world, bent on its destruction.
Commentary
Shankaracharya explains that naṣṭātmānaḥ means those who have destroyed their own higher nature through false views. Their philosophical materialism leads directly to destructive action. Ramanuja notes the causal chain: wrong view (dṛṣṭi) leads to wrong action (karma), which leads to universal harm (jagataḥ kṣaya). This illustrates how metaphysical error has ethical consequences.
Themes
karmadharma