Sanskrit
इदमद्य मया लब्धमिमं प्राप्स्ये मनोरथम् । इदमस्तीदमपि मे भविष्यति पुनर्धनम् ॥
idam adya mayā labdham imaṃ prāpsye manoratham idam asti idam api me bhaviṣyati punar dhanam
Translation
"This to-day by me hath been won, that purpose I shall gain; this wealth is mine already, and also this shall be mine in future.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The text shifts registers here into direct quotation — an interior monologue running through verse 15 — a distinct literary move for a chapter that has otherwise spoken about the demonic in the third person. “This I’ve won today, that I’ll gain next, this wealth is mine, and more will come” reads as ordinary acquisitive self-talk, notable mainly for how mundane and recognizable it is next to the chapter’s more cosmic condemnations. Rendering the demonic mind in its own voice rather than only describing it from outside makes the portrait land as psychology rather than pure denunciation. Verses 13–15 are the demonic interior monologue, quoted directly — a rare device. The rhythm is pure acquisition: got, will get, have, will have. Every clause is idam, “this,” “this,” “this” — a mind wholly outside itself, counting.
Study deeper
Word by word
- idam adya mayā labdhamइदं अद्य मया लब्धं
- 'this I have got today (idam + adya + mayā + labdham)
- imaṃ prāpsye manorathamइमं प्राप्स्ये मनोरथं
- this craving I shall attain (imam + prāpsye + manoratham)
- idam asti idam api meइदं अस्ति इदं अपि मे
- this is mine, and this too shall be mine (idam + asti + idam + api + me)
- bhaviṣyati punar dhanamभविष्यति पुनः धनं
- more wealth will come to be' (bhaviṣyati + punaḥ + dhanam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Track the tenses across this single interior line: past achievement, future gain, present possession, future gain again. The only present-tense verb is a claim of ownership (“this is mine”); every other thought pulls the mind either backward into what’s already secured or forward into what’s still to be acquired. It’s a mind that never simply rests in the present except to tally what it owns there — a useful contrast to the settled, present-anchored steadiness the Gita praises elsewhere.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Notice when your own internal monologue only touches the present tense to tally what you own, while every other thought pulls you back to past wins or forward to future gains — that pattern, named directly in this verse, is a sign of an unsettled mind, not an ambitious one.
Professional
- If a team's planning conversations only reference the present to claim credit for past wins and pivot instantly to the next target, notice the pattern this verse names — a culture that never rests in the present except to keep score is running on acquisition, not strategy.
Family & Social
- If a conversation with someone close to you keeps drifting to what's already been achieved or what's coming next, and only touches the present to claim ownership of something, notice that pattern — the same restless time-orientation this verse gives to the acquisitive mind, worth naming gently rather than matching.
Ask yourself
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