Sanskrit
असौ मया हतः शत्रुर्हनिष्ये चापरानपि । ईश्वरोऽहमहं भोगी सिद्धोऽहं बलवान्सुखी ॥
asau mayā hataḥ śatrur haniṣye cāparān api īśvaro 'ham ahaṃ bhogī siddho 'ham balavān sukhī
Translation
"I have slain this enemy, and others also I shall slay. I am the Lord, I am the enjoyer, I am perfect, powerful, happy;
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The monologue escalates from acquisition to domination: “I have slain this enemy, I will slay others, I am īśvara (lord), I am the enjoyer, accomplished, powerful, happy.” The self-application of īśvara is the sharpest word choice in the verse — it’s the term the Gita elsewhere reserves for the divine ruling principle, as in Chapter 15’s discussion of the Puruṣottama — and putting it in this speaker’s mouth is a quiet indictment: the deepest form of demonic delusion here isn’t cruelty for its own sake but self-deification, mistaking one’s own will for the ultimate authority. Everything else in the verse — enjoyment, accomplishment, power, happiness — is presented as a checklist already ticked off, with no room left for anything to be received rather than claimed. Īśvaro ‘ham — “I am the lord” — is the demonic self-image, and it is a direct usurpation: the title chapter after chapter reserves for Krishna (BG 15.17), now claimed by an ego. This is ahaṃkāra at its most inflated, the BG 3.27 “I am the doer” turned into “I am God.””
Study deeper
Word by word
- asau mayā hataḥ śatrurअसौ मया हतः शत्रुः
- 'that foe has been slain by me (asau + mayā + hataḥ + śatruḥ)
- haniṣye cāparān apiहनिष्ये चापरान् अपि
- and I shall slay others too (haniṣye + ca + aparān + api)
- īśvaro 'ham ahaṃ bhogīईश्वरो ऽहं अहं भोगी
- I am lord, I am the enjoyer (īśvaraḥ + aham + aham + bhogī)
- siddho 'ham balavān sukhīसिद्धो ऽहं बलवान् सुखी
- I am perfect, powerful, happy' (siddhaḥ + aham + balavān + sukhī)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The verse’s internal order is worth noting: the claim to godhood doesn’t arrive first and justify the violence — the violence comes first, and the self-deifying titles (lord, enjoyer, accomplished) follow immediately after, almost as if the killing were the evidence being cited for the claim. It’s a portrait of a specific psychological move: proving power over another life first, then reasoning backward to a grander identity from that proof.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- If you find yourself justifying an inflated sense of your own importance by pointing to a specific act of dominance over someone else — winning an argument, beating a rival — notice the direction of that reasoning. This verse shows the violence coming first and the grand self-image built backward from it.
Professional
- Watch for a leader who cites a specific win over a rival colleague as evidence for a sweeping claim about their own authority or infallibility — this verse's structure, domination first and self-deification built backward from it, is a recognizable and unhealthy pattern in workplace power dynamics.
Family & Social
- If someone in a relationship starts justifying an inflated sense of control by pointing to a specific instance of having 'won' a conflict, name the pattern — this verse shows exactly that move, a single act of dominance used as evidence for a much larger claim about who's really in charge.
Ask yourself
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