Sanskrit
यथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतङ्गाः विशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगाः । तथैव नाशाय विशन्ति लोकाः तवापि वक्त्राणि समृद्धवेगाः ॥
yathā pradīptaṃ jvalanaṃ pataṅgāḥ viśanti nāśāya samṛddhavegāḥ tathaiva nāśāya viśanti lokāḥ tavāpi vaktrāṇi samṛddhavegāḥ
Translation
As moths with quickened speed will headlong fly Into a flaming light, to fall destroyed, So also these, in haste precipitate, Enter within Thy mouths destroyed to fall.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Where verse 28’s river had no will at all, the moth has one and uses it wrongly — flying toward the flame with “samṛddhavegāḥ,” gathered speed, as if hurrying toward safety rather than annihilation. Paired back to back, the two similes quietly stage the poem’s whole argument about self-destructive action: sometimes ruin looks like law (the river), and sometimes it looks like a choice that only seems eager (the moth). This is the moment verse 21 was pointing toward when it warned that warriors were about to enter these mouths “not to praise, but to be devoured” — the devouring has now fully arrived, description giving way to naked spectacle. The two similes stage the poem’s whole argument about self-destructive action: sometimes ruin looks like law (the river), sometimes like a choice that only seems eager (the moth), flying toward the flame “as if hurrying to safety.””
Study deeper
Word by word
- yathā pradīptaṃ jvalanaṃ pataṅgāḥयथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतङ्गाः
- as moths into a blazing flame (yathā + pradīptam + jvalanam + pataṅgāḥ)
- viśanti nāśāya samṛddhavegāḥविशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगाः
- rush to their destruction with quickened speed (viśanti + nāśāya + samṛddha-vegāḥ)
- tathaiva nāśāya viśanti lokāḥतथैव नाशाय विशन्ति लोकाः
- so too these worlds rush to their destruction (tathā + eva + nāśāya + viśanti + lokāḥ)
- tavāpi vaktrāṇi samṛddhavegāḥतवापि वक्त्राणि समृद्धवेगाः
- into your mouths, with quickened speed (tava + api + vaktrāṇi + samṛddha-vegāḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The moths in this simile aren’t victims of a trap; they are shown supplying their own velocity toward it. Where the earlier catalogue described a passive slaughter, this one specifies effort — the destruction here has to be raced toward, gathered speed and all, and the poem seems less interested in blaming the flame than in noting how much energy the moth spent hurrying to its own ending.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Before you credit your own eagerness as evidence you're doing the right thing, remember the moth: gathered speed toward something is not the same as gathered wisdom about it. Notice how fast you're moving before you ask whether the direction was ever examined.
Professional
- When a team rallies fast around a plan, don't mistake the energy of the rally for validation of the plan itself — audit the direction before the momentum, because a wrong call executed with enthusiasm still lands exactly where it was headed.
Family & Social
- If you find yourself rushing eagerly into an argument or a decision that affects your family, pause on the eagerness itself — the moth's undoing wasn't slowness, it was speed spent on the wrong target.
Ask yourself
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