FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 16.19

తానహం ద్విషత: క్రూరాన్సంసారేషు నరాధమాన్ । క్షిపామ్యజస్రమశ‍ుభానాసురీష్వేవ యోనిషు ॥ ౧౯ ॥
tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān
[taan aham dvishatah krooraan]
saṁsāreṣu narādhamān
[samsaareshu naraadhamaan]
kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān
[kshipaamy ajasram ashubhaan]
āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu
[aasureeshv eva yonishu]
Word-for-word
tān — those aham — I dviṣataḥ — envious krūrān — mischievous saṁsāreṣu — into the ocean of material existence nara - adhamān — the lowest of mankind kṣipāmi — I put ajasram — forever aśubhān — inauspicious āsurīṣu — demoniac eva — certainly yoniṣu — into the wombs .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān
tān
those
aham
I
dviṣataḥ
envious
krūrān
mischievous
saṁsāreṣu narādhamān
saṁsāreṣu
into the ocean of material existence
nara - adhamān
the lowest of mankind
kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān
kṣipāmi
I put
ajasram
forever
aśubhān
inauspicious
āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu
āsurīṣu
demoniac
eva
certainly
yoniṣu
into the wombs .
Important Words
  • krūrān — mischievous
    Krūra — cruel, harsh, of bloody temperament. The verse pairs envy with cruelty because the two grow together: hatred of the Lord externalized as harshness toward His creatures.
  • saṁsāreṣu — into the ocean of material existence
    Locative plural — into the many saṁsāras, the repeated rounds. Saṁ-sāra — the flowing-together, the cycling. The plural is severe: not one round but many.
  • nara - adhamān — the lowest of mankind
    Compound: nara (human) + adhama (lowest). A precise Sanskrit insult, but legal in tone, not abusive. The verse classifies, it does not curse. They have placed themselves at the bottom by their conduct.
  • kṣipāmi — I put
    First-person singular of kṣip — to throw, cast. Kṛṣṇa speaks the verb in His own voice. The casting is His act, but it is the consequence of their action — He is the agent of the law they have invoked.
  • ajasram — forever
    Without a-jasra — without cessation. Continual, unbroken. The casting is repeated. The verse closes the door against the idea that one demoniac life is enough; the pattern, untouched, repeats.
  • yoniṣu — into the wombs
    Locative plural of yoni — womb, source, species. Āsurīṣu yoniṣu — the demoniac species themselves. The body inherited matches the consciousness carried.
Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.
Purport

In this verse it is clearly indicated that the placing of a particular individual soul in a particular body is the prerogative of the supreme will. The demoniac person may not agree to accept the supremacy of the Lord, and it is a fact that he may act according to his own whims, but his next birth will depend upon the decision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and not on himself. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, it is stated that an individual soul, after his death, is put into the womb of a mother where he gets a particular type of body under the supervision of superior power. Therefore in the material existence we find so many species of life – animals, insects, men, and so on. All are arranged by the superior power. They are not accidental. As for the demoniac, it is clearly said here that they are perpetually put into the wombs of demons, and thus they continue to be envious, the lowest of mankind. Such demoniac species of men are held to be always full of lust, always violent and hateful and always unclean. The many kinds of hunters in the jungle are considered to belong to the demoniac species of life.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
19. I cast those hateful, cruel, and lowest of humans, constantly doing evil, into repeated birth and death in the wombs of demons.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
19. I cast those hateful, cruel, and lowest of humans, constantly doing evil, into repeated birth and death in the wombs of demons.
Commentary

Because of their asura mentality they will not get liberation at all. This is explained in two verses. I, the Lord of all, who give results to all according to their karmas, throw them again and again (ajasram) into births as sinful persons (hunters) or mlecchas, involved with violence and thirst for enjoyment.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Fate of demoniac – They are perpetually cast into various demoniac wombs in the ocean of material

existence

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
16.19 Because of their defect of unrighteousness, aham, I; ksipami, cast, hurl; ajasram, for ever; all tan, those; who are dvisatah, hateful of Me; kruran, cruel; and asubhan, who are evil doers; samsaresu, in the worlds-who are on the paths leading to hell; who are the nara-adhaman, vilest of human beings, who are opposed to the right path, who are hostile to the pious people; eva, verily; asurisu, into the demoniacal; yonisu, classes-tigers, loins, etc., which are full of evil deeds. The verb cast is to be connected with 'into the classes'.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
16.19 Those who hate Me in this manner, I hurl them, the cruel, inauspicious and the vilest of mankind into the cycle of births and deaths for ever, viz., old age, death etc., revolving again and again, and even there into demoniac wombs. I hurl them into births, antagonistic to any friendliness towards Me. The meaning is that I shall connect them to cruel minds as would impel them to actions which lead them to the attainment of cursed births.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
16.19 See Coment under 16.20
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
16.19 Those cruel haters, worst among men in the world, I hurl those evil-doers into the wombs of demons only.
Commentary

16.19 तान् those? अहम् I? द्विषतः (the) hating (ones)? क्रूरान् cruel? संसारेषु in the worlds? नराधमान् worst among men? क्षिपामि (I) hurl? अजस्रम् for ever? अशुभान् evildoers? आसुरीषु of demons? एव only? योनिषु in wombs.Commentary Now listen to the manner in which I deal with all these demoniacal persons who injure people and who take delight in killing people and animals and who hate Me? the indweller of all bodies. I deprive them of their human state and reduce them to a lower condition as subhuman creatures. I hurl them into the wombs of the most cruel beings such as tigers? lions? scorpions? snakes and the like. For ever only means till they purify their hearts. There is no such thing as eternal damnation.Tan Those The enemies of those who tread the path of righteousness and the haters of virtuous persons.Naradhaman Worst among men because they are guilty of the wors evil deeds and they take delight in injuring virtuous persns and in killing persons and animals ruthlessly.Asurishu yonishu Wombs of Asuras Wombs of the most cruel beings such as tigers? lions and the like.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
16.19 I cast for ever those hateful, cruel, evil-doers in the worlds, the vilest of human beings, verily into the demoniacla classes.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
16.19 Those who thus hate Me, who are cruel, the dregs of mankind, I condemn them to a continuous, miserable and godless rebirth.
Related values & verses
Related values
Prema (Divine Love)Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Svadhyaya (Self-study & Scripture Study)
Related verses
BG 9.12 BG 16.20 BG 7.15 SB 3.16.26 SB 7.1.35 SB 11.23.44 CC Madhya 22.24 CC Madhya 19.138 CC Ādi 5.31 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.7Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 5.12
Study Q&A referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Analogy

A potter discarding clay that will not hold the wheel — back into the pit it goes, to be soaked and shaped again, life after life. Kṛṣṇa is the potter; the envious āsuras the unworkable clay. The cycle is not punishment but the necessary further softening of what cannot yet be formed.

Stories
Jaya and Vijaya

Even Vaikuṇṭha's gatekeepers were not exempt. When Jaya and Vijaya turned away the four Kumāras in pride, the sages cursed them to take birth in demoniac wombs. They were given a choice: seven births as devotees, or three as the Lord's enemies.

They chose the enemies' path because it was shorter. The Bhāgavatam records their three lives: Hiraṇyākṣa–Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa–Kumbhakarṇa, Śiśupāla–Dantavakra. Āsurīṣu yoniṣu — into demoniac wombs — even by their own choice. The verse describes the standard case; Jaya and Vijaya are the exception that proves the rule.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 16