FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 16.20

आसुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि । मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम् ॥ २० ॥
āsurīṁ yonim āpannā
[aasureem yonim aapannaa]
mūḍhā janmani janmani
[moodhaa janmani janmani]
mām aprāpyaiva kaunteya
[maam apraapyaiva kaunteya]
tato yānty adhamāṁ gatim
[tato yaanty adhamaam gatim]
Word-for-word
āsurīm — demoniac yonim — species āpannāḥ — gaining mūḍhāḥ — the foolish janmani janmani — in birth after birth mām — Me aprāpya — without achieving eva — certainly kaunteya — O son of Kuntī tataḥ — thereafter yānti — go adhamām — condemned gatim — destination .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
āsurīṁ yonim āpannā
āsurīm
demoniac
yonim
species
āpannāḥ
gaining
mūḍhā janmani janmani
mūḍhāḥ
the foolish
janmani janmani
in birth after birth
mām
Me
mām aprāpyaiva kaunteya
aprāpya
without achieving
eva
certainly
kaunteya
O son of Kuntī
tato yānty adhamāṁ gatim
tataḥ
thereafter
yānti
go
adhamām
condemned
gatim
destination .
Important Words
  • yonim — species
    Accusative singular of yoni — womb, source, species. Paired with āsurīm (demoniac), it specifies the kind of birth obtained. Each soul lands in some specific womb that matches its accumulated consciousness.
  • āpannāḥ — gaining
    Past participle of ā-pad — to fall into, to obtain. The same root from āpatti — calamity. The 'gaining' is ironic; it is what they have earned, not what they wanted.
  • mūḍhāḥ — the foolish
    From muh — to be bewildered. Mūḍha is the bewildered one, the deluded one. Repeated through the Gītā as Kṛṣṇa's diagnosis of those who do not see Him.
  • janmani janmani — in birth after birth
    Locative repetition — a Sanskrit idiom of intensification. Not just one repeat but the open-ended series. The verse is the long view: the pattern does not exhaust itself in two or three births.
  • aprāpya — without achieving
    Gerund of a-pra-āp — not attaining. The negative gerund: 'having not attained, they then sink further.' The cosmic accountancy: failure to approach the Lord compounds into descent.
  • gatim — destination
    Accusative of gati — destination, motion, goal. Paired with adhamām (lowest), it compresses the result of the long pattern: the soul's gati becomes lower until it can barely move.
Attaining repeated birth amongst the species of demoniac life, O son of Kuntī, such persons can never approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence.
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
The downward spiral has its own momentum. Each demonic birth, far from being a chance to escape, deepens the delusion that keeps them from Kṛṣṇa, and from there the next destination is lower still. The address 'Kaunteya' is gentle — Arjuna is being warned, not condemned.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
'Janmani janmani' grammatically reduplicates the locative for distributive force ('in every birth') and rhetorically echoes the exhausting repetition of the cycle. 'Mām aprāpya eva' is decisive: not reaching the Lord is itself what 'lowest destination' means. Cross-ref: BG 9.32 — even those of low birth take refuge in Kṛṣṇa and reach the supreme; here, demonic birth combined with continued enmity blocks even that route.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
हे कौन्तेय! जन्मनि जन्मनि आसुरीम् योनिम् आपन्नाः मूढाः माम् अप्राप्य एव ततः अधमाम् गतिम् यान्ति ।
he kaunteya! janmani janmani āsurīm yonim āpannāḥ mūḍhāḥ mām aprāpya eva tataḥ adhamām gatim yānti |
O Kaunteya, having attained demonic wombs in birth after birth, the deluded — not reaching Me at all — go from there to a still lower destination.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
आसुरीम् योनिम् आपन्नाः मूढाः जन्मनि जन्मनि । माम् अप्राप्य एव कौन्तेय ततः यान्ति अधमाम् गतिम् ॥
āsurīm yonim āpannāḥ mūḍhāḥ janmani janmani | mām aprāpya eva kaunteya tataḥ yānti adhamām gatim ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
आसुरीम् āsurīm आसुरी (f.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) demonic
योनिम् yonim योनि (f.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) womb, species
आपन्नाः āpannāḥ आ + √पद् p.p.p. (past passive participle) nom.pl. (nominative plural)m. having entered, attained
मूढाः mūḍhāḥ √मुह् p.p.p. (past passive participle) nom.pl. (nominative plural)m. the deluded
जन्मनि जन्मनि janmani janmani जन्मन् (n.) loc.sg. (repeated for distributive sense) in birth after birth
माम् mām अस्मद् pron. (pronoun) acc.sg. (accusative singular) Me
अप्राप्य aprāpya अ + प्र + √आप् abs. (absolutive), neg. cpd. (compound) without attaining
एव eva ind. (emphatic) indeed
कौन्तेय kaunteya कौन्तेय (m.) voc.sg. (vocative singular) O son of Kuntī
ततः tataḥ ind. (indeclinable) from there, thereafter
यान्ति yānti √या pres. (present) 3pl.par. (parasmaipada / active voice) they go
अधमाम् adhamām अधम (adj.) acc.sg. (accusative singular)f., superl. the lowest
गतिम् gatim गति (f.) acc.sg. (accusative singular) destination, state
Purport

It is known that God is all-merciful, but here we find that God is never merciful to the demoniac. It is clearly stated that the demoniac people, life after life, are put into the wombs of similar demons, and, not achieving the mercy of the Supreme Lord, they go down and down, so that at last they achieve bodies like those of cats, dogs and hogs. It is clearly stated that such demons have practically no chance of receiving the mercy of God at any stage of later life. In the Vedas also it is stated that such persons gradually sink to become dogs and hogs. It may be then argued in this connection that God should not be advertised as all-merciful if He is not merciful to such demons. In answer to this question, in the Vedānta-sūtra we find that the Supreme Lord has no hatred for anyone. The placing of the asuras, the demons, in the lowest status of life is simply another feature of His mercy. Sometimes the asuras are killed by the Supreme Lord, but this killing is also good for them, for in Vedic literature we find that anyone who is killed by the Supreme Lord becomes liberated. There are instances in history of many asuras – Rāvaṇa, Kaṁsa, Hiraṇyakaśipu – to whom the Lord appeared in various incarnations just to kill them. Therefore God’s mercy is shown to the asuras if they are fortunate enough to be killed by Him.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
20. Taking birth as demons birth after birth, these fools, not attaining Me, then go to the lowest position, O son of Kuntī.
Commentary

Not attaining Me, the asuras attain low births. However, those asuras in the form of Kaṁsa and others attained Me, Kṛṣṇa, who appeared at the end of Dvāpara-yuga in the twenty eighth cycle of Vaivasvata Manu’s reign. Though hating Me, they attained Me in the form of liberation. Because I am an ocean of mercy, I give even such sinful asuras liberation, which is only attained by the perfection of bhakti and jñāna. The Personified Vedas say: nibhṛta-marun-mano’kṣa dṛḍha-yoga-yujo hṛdi yan munaya upāsate tad-arayo’pi yayuḥ smaraṇāt Simply by constantly thinking of Him, the enemies of the Lord attained the same Supreme Truth whom sages fixed in yoga worship by controlling their breath, mind and senses. SB 10.87.23 This widens the scope of My supreme attractive position which I mentioned previously. But as the Bhagavatāmṛta Kārikā says: māṁ kṛṣṇa-rūpiṇaṁ yāvan nāpnuvanti mama dviṣaḥ tāvad evādhamaṁ yoniṁ prāpnuvantīti hi sphuṭam In as much as those who hate Me do not attain Me in My form as Kṛṣṇa, it is clear that they attain the lowest births.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
20. Taking birth as demons birth after birth, these fools, not attaining My mercy at all, then go to the lowest status of life, O son of Kuntī.
Commentary

“Will those born in the wombs of asuras become liberated at some time by Your mercy, after many births?” These fools, having been born in ḍemonic wombs, not attaining Me at all, proceed to the wombs of the lowest creatures like dogs. Use of the word eva after aprāpya indicates that there is no possibility for them to get My mercy. A good birth suitable for practicing attaining the Lord is very rare (what to speak of this low birth). The śruti also says: atha kapūya-caraṇā abhyāso ha yat te kapūyāṁ yonim āpadyeran śva-yoniṁ vā śūkara-yoniṁ vā caṇḍāla-yoniṁ vā Those of bad conduct attain low births, such as dogs, pigs and caṇḍālas. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.10.7 “But because You have the quality having all Your desires fulfilled (satya saṅkalpatva), You can make them qualified, even if they are so unqualified.” Anything is possible for the Lord, but though He could do this, He does not have that desire, since there is no good reason for Him to do that. Thus there is no fault of prejudice in the Lord. The author of the Vedānta says vaiṣyamya-niarghṛṇye na: there is no prejudice or hatred in the Lord. (Vedṇata Sūtras 2.1.35) Therefore these two verses are very appropriate. Those asauras described here who do not accept scripture are always shown to be inhabitants of hell. But those who become demons and kings obeident to demens by a curse, though showing externally hatred to the visible forms of Viṣṇū like Vāmana, Narasiṁha and Varāha, regarding them as enemies, are internally followers of the vedic path, and consider Him to be the Supreme Lord the controller of all, in control of time, beyond their material vision. Being killed by Vāmana and other incarnations, they give up the bodies of asuras . Those killed by Kṛṣṇa attain liberation. These persons are not opposers of the Vedas.

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Translation
Attaining repeated birth amongst the species of demoniac life, O son of Kunti, such persons can never approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence. (cn) Then, after presenting what happens with the divine in Section A, and then presenting what is the results, what happens to the demoniac in Section B, Krsna, in the last verses, He gives us our choice, He gives us clear directions about which path we want to take. If one wants to go to hell here are the ways and if one wants to avoid it, which are Krsna's instructions...
Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study Key verse
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Fate of demoniac – They glide down to hell

Attaining repeated birth among demoniac species, such persons can never approach Me
Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence

Focus of Learning

(a) “Never attain Me” – explained as follows:

Life after life they are put into demoniac wombs, go down and down, at last achieve bodies like cats, dogs and hogs (Ref. Vedas states similar fact)
What is the hope for them – Practically no chance of receiving God’s mercy at any stage of life

(b) What is the hope for them because God is supposed to be all Merciful:

Reference for Lord as All Merciful – Ref. Vedanta Sutra: Supreme Lord has no hatred for anyone
Another feature of His mercy – The placing of asuras in the lowest status of life is simply another feature of His mercy
Different aspects of Lord’s mercy
Sometimes the asuras are killed by the Lord – they get liberated ▪

E.g. Ravana, Kamsa, etc.

Part of Lord’s mercy is how He reciprocates with consciousness of living entity. If a living entity desires to be in a position where he can have total forgetfulness of Krishna, while Lording over the material energy, Krishna gives that position to Him

(a) PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Nothing is accidental – This verse clearly indicates that placing of a

particular soul in a particular body is the prerogative of the Supreme Will

Demoniac may not agree to accept the supremacy of the Lord, but his next birth anyways depends upon the decision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Ref. SB Canto 3 quoted)
Lack of knowledge – Does not know that all is arranged by superior power, nothing is accidental

(b) Fate of Demoniac

Perpetually cast into various demoniac species
Example of demoniac species of life – Many kind of hunters in the jungle
They continue to be envious, the lowest of mankind

SUMMARISED THEME 16B

DEMONIAC NATURE

A) Demonaic qualities (16.4)

1. Pride

2. Anger

3. Arrogance

4. Conceit

5. Harshness

6. Ignorance

B) Demoniac nature (16.7)

They do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done
They do not follow sastra
Unclean and proper behaviour
Not truthful and self-centered

C) Demonaic philosophy (16.8)

World is unreal with no God in control
No cause other than lust and thus this world is produced of sex desire

D) Demoniac attitude and engagements (16.9 & 16.11 – 16.12)

Attitude
The demoniac are lost to themselves (illusioned) and have no intelligence
Sense gratification is the “prime necessity of human civilization”
Engagements
Engaged in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world
Secure money by illegal means for sense-gratification

E) Demoniac mentality (16.10 & 16.13 – 16.15)

They take shelter of insatiable lust
They are absorbed in the conceit of pride and false prestige
Always sworn to unclean work and attracted by impermanent
“I am the controller and the enjoyer”
“I am perfect and powerful”
“My enemies are defeated and I am happy”
“I am the Lord of everything that I survey”

F) Result of demonaic work (16.16)

Perplexed by various anxieties
Network of illusions
Too strong attachment to sense enjoyment
Falldown to hell

G) Demoniac preachings (16.17 – 16.18)

They are envious of God, saintly persons and scriptures
They proudly perform sacrifices in name only, without following any rules or regulations
Preach that whatever path one creates is one’s own path – there is no standard path
Others concoct their own God
Some preach that God is dead
Others say: “You are all yourselves God”

H) Fate of demonaic (16.19 – 16.20)

They are perpetually cast into various demoniac wombs in the ocean of material existence
Attaining repeated birth among demoniac species, such persons can never approach Me
Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence
They glide down to hell
Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
16.20 Apannah, being born, having acired; (births) asurim, among the demoniacal; yonim, species; janmani janmani, in births after births; the mudhah, fools, non-discriminating ones; being born in every birth into species in which tamas prevails, and going downwards, aprapya eva, without ever reaching, approaching; mam, Me, who am God; O son of Kunti, yanti, they attain; gatim, conditions; tatah adhamam, lower even than that. Since there is not the least possibility of attaining Me, what is implied by saying, 'without ever reachin Me', is, 'by not attaining the virtuous path enjoined by Me.' This is being stated as a summary of all the demoniacal alities. The triplet-under which are comprehended all the different demoniacal alities though they are infinite in number, (and) by the avoidance of which (three) they (all the demaniacal alities) become rejected, and which is the root of all evils- is being stated:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
16.20 'These deluded men,' viz., those entertaining perverse knowledge about Me, attain repeatedly births that tend them to be antagonistic to Me. Never 'attaining Me,' viz., never arriving at the knowledge that Vasudeva, the Lord and the ruler of all, truly exists, they go farther and farther down, from that birth, to the lowest level. Sri Krsna proceeds to explain the root-cause of the ruin to the self of demoniac nature:
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
16.17-20 Atmasambhavitah etc. upto gatim. They pretend to perform sacrifices : The meaning is that their sacrifice is fruitless. Indeed all is ruined because of their anger. Or, namayjna [may mean] 'the sacrifices which are in name only'. Or, it [may denote] those sacrifices that are performed for one's name sake i.e., for one's reputation, because of which one gets the appellation as 'He is performer of [such and such] sacrifices' These sacrifices, performed out of hypocricy alone, do not , however fetch any fruit. Becasue these persons are rugged with anger etc., they hate people and by that they hate Me only [in fact]. For, I, the Vasudeva (the Universal Soul), dwell every-where. Entertaining hatred towards their own Soul, they perform action, that is hostile to themselves, and responsible for their own fall into the hells. These persons I hurl into nothing but the demoniac wombs.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
16.20 Entering into demoniacal wombs and deluded, birth after birth, not attaining Me, they thus fall, O Arjuna, into a condition still lower than that.
Commentary

16.20 असुरीम् demoniacal? योनिम् womb? आपन्नाः entering into? मूढाः deluded? जन्मनि जन्मनि in birth after birth? माम् Me? अप्राप्य not attaining? एव still? कौन्तेय O son of Kunti (Arjuna)? ततः than that? यान्ति (they) fall into? अधमाम् lower? गतिम् condition (path or goal).Commentary These degraded Asuras are cast into the demoniacal wombs. They are reduced to the very lowest condition or the most appalling state. They are cast into utter darkness. They fall into lower and yet lower wombs in response to their own satanic desires and actions and their extreme Tamasic nature. From the birth of a tiger? they will get the birth of a serpent from a serpents they will get the birth of a wormfrom that they will get the birth of a tree? etc. In Sanskrit the suffix Tara denotes comparative degree and Tama is superlative degree. These people get Nikrishtatama Yonis (the lowest wombs).They do not reach Me as their minds are filled with impurities? as they do not tread the path of righteousness in accordance with the injunctions of the scriptures. The diabolical nature is inimical to spiritual progress. Therefore? you will have to annihilate the evil tendencies by cultivating divine alities and the practice of regular meditation. Then and only then will you attain liberation.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
16.20 Being born among the demoniacal species in births after births, the foods, without ever reaching Me, O son of Kunti, attain conditions lower than that.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
16.20 So reborn, they spend life after life, enveloped in delusion. And they never reach Me, O Prince, but degenerate into still lower forms of life.
Related values & verses
Related values
Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)
Related verses
BG 9.3 BG 16.19 BG 8.15 SB 4.14.46 SB 5.26.37 SB 7.1.46 CC Madhya 20.117 CC Madhya 22.24 CC Madhya 19.151 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.7Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.10
Concepts
Yoga
Study Q&A referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Analogy

A stone dropped into deep water sinks not by malice of the water but by its own density. Each lifetime of demoniac choice adds weight; the soul sinks further, never approaching Kṛṣṇa because it has loaded itself away from Him. Gravity, not punishment, is the verse's grammar.

Stories
Vena's Repeated Fall

King Vena, the son of Aṅga, was demoniac from birth. The sages crowned him in hope of correction; he forbade sacrifice and demanded worship of himself alone. When the sages killed him with the force of their mantra, his body was churned for any salvageable element — Pṛthu emerged from one arm — but the rest, the demoniac substance, descended to lower wombs.

The Bhāgavatam treats Vena as the textbook of janmani janmani — birth after birth — sinking through the very route the verse describes.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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