Sanskrit
न मां दुष्कृतिनो मूढाः प्रपद्यन्ते नराधमाः । माययाऽपहृतज्ञाना आसुरं भावमाश्रिताः ॥ १५॥
na māṃ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛtajñānā āsuraṃ bhāvam āśritāḥ
Translation
The evil-doing, the deluded, the vilest men, they come not to Me, they whose wisdom is destroyed by illusion, who have embraced the nature of demons.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A harder edge appears: some people don’t merely fail to cross maya, as in verse 14, they actively refuse to approach — evildoers, the deluded, whose faculties maya has already stripped away. Worth flagging as one of the chapter’s more severe verses; unlike verse 21’s later promise to meet any sincere devotee wherever their faith leads, this one describes people the text treats as beyond that reach, having “embraced the nature of demons” by their own doing. Āsuraṃ bhāvam āśritāḥ — “having taken shelter in the demonic disposition” — is a choice, not a caste: chapter 16 defines this āsura endowment entirely by conduct. The severity is aimed at contempt, not ignorance.
Study deeper
Word by word
- na māṃ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥन मां दुष्कृतिनो मूढाः
- evildoers, the deluded, [do] not [approach] Me (na + mām + duṣkṛtinaḥ + mūḍhāḥ)
- prapadyante narādhamāḥप्रपद्यन्ते नराधमाः
- the lowest of men do not take refuge (prapadyante + nara-adhamāḥ)
- māyayāpahṛtajñānāमाययापहृतज्ञाना
- their knowledge stripped away by māyā (māyayā + apahṛta-jñānāḥ)
- āsuraṃ bhāvam āśritāḥआसुरं भावं आश्रिताः
- clinging to a demonic nature (āsuram + bhāvam + āśritāḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“Refuge” is the same word chosen twice in this chapter for two opposite objects: verse 1 asked Arjuna to take refuge in Krishna (madāśrayaḥ), and this verse describes people who have “taken refuge” in the demonic nature instead (āśritāḥ) — the same root both times. Refuge isn’t optional in this framework; everyone is sheltering in something. The only real choice being described is which shelter, not whether to seek one.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- You are always taking refuge in something — a belief, a habit, a comfort — whether or not you notice it. The real question isn't whether to seek shelter but which shelter you've actually chosen; make that choice consciously instead of by default.
Professional
- Your team is always operating out of some default posture — caution, speed, blame-avoidance — whether it's been consciously chosen or not. Name which posture you're actually sheltering in as an organization, because an unexamined default is still a choice, just an unmade one.
Family & Social
- In hard times, everyone in a family leans on something — each other, distraction, old grudges. Notice which one your family actually reaches for under stress, because that default, chosen or not, shapes how you come through the hard time together.
Ask yourself
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