Sanskrit
आसुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि । मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम् ॥
āsurīṃ yonim āpannā mūḍhā janmani janmani mām aprāpyaiva kaunteya tato yānty adhamāṃ gatim
Translation
Cast into demoniacal wombs, deluded birth after birth, attaining not to Me, O Kaunteya, they sink into the lowest depths.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The same idea repeats with an intensifier — “janmani janmani,” birth after birth — deluded and “attaining not to Me,” sinking to the lowest state. The repetition matters more than any new content: this isn’t a one-time sentence but a self-reinforcing loop, where a demonic nature produces a demonic rebirth that produces further demonic nature, with no obvious exit built into the mechanism itself. That’s precisely the setup the next two verses resolve — an exit does exist, and it’s about to be named. Janmani janmani — “birth after birth” — the demonic trajectory is a downward spiral: each life’s disposition determines the next, and without the interruption of mām, reaching Krishna, it only descends. The Gita’s bleakest picture — but BG 16.21 names the exact point where the descent can be broken.
Study deeper
Word by word
- āsurīṃ yonim āpannāआसुरीं योनिं आपन्ना
- entering a demonic womb (āsurīm + yonim + āpannāḥ)
- mūḍhā janmani janmaniमूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि
- the deluded, birth after birth (mūḍhāḥ + janmani + janmani)
- mām aprāpyaiva kaunteyaमां अप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय
- not attaining Me at all, O son of Kuntī (mām + aprāpya + eva + kaunteya)
- tato yānty adhamāṃ gatimततो यान्त्य् अधमां गतिं
- they go from there to the lowest state (tataḥ + yānti + adhamām + gatim)
Commentary
Site Commentary
This is the chapter’s structural low point, and it’s positioned precisely — the bleakest, most cyclical, seemingly exit-less description of the pattern sits directly before the verse that names the way out. That’s not incidental sequencing: naming a problem at its most hopeless-sounding right before the solution is a deliberate way to make the solution land harder than it would if it arrived gradually.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- If you're describing a bad pattern in your life to yourself, don't soften it prematurely — naming it at its bleakest, the way this verse does right before the turn, can make the fix that follows land with more force and more resolve than a gentler description would.
Professional
- When presenting a problem to leadership before proposing a fix, don't undersell how bad the current state is — a stark, unflinching description of the failure mode right before your recommendation, mirroring this verse's structure, makes the proposed solution land with more weight than easing into it would.
Family & Social
- If you need to name a painful pattern to someone close to you before proposing a way forward, don't blunt the description too much — naming the pattern honestly, at its worst, right before offering the path out, can make the offered solution feel more real and more urgent than a softened version would.
Ask yourself
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