Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 13 (BG 9.13) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 9.13 — Translation of Meaning To elucidate a principle, Bhagavan Sri Krishna often employs a distinctive method: He presents two opposing truths side by side, so that each may be clearly understood against the backdrop of the other. The first verse describes those deluded persons who follow their base and inferior inclinations. The second verse portrays those great souls who are endowed with all divine qualities. Foolish people, bewildered by false hopes and exhausted by futile and degrading actions undertaken to fulfill them, become utterly confused and unstable in their discernment. Such persons, having lost the divine perspective with which to view the world, become demonic in their actions and perpetually display their lustful and asura nature across all times. These followers of the Ravana tradition are here called rakshasas and asuras. The actions performed in the present moment generate desires in the human heart; according to these desires, so too are the person's wishes and thoughts formed. Futile and forbidden actions only increase negative desires, which further coarsen and dull the intellect of the dull-minded person. In the vision of the wise, a human being dwelling in this abyss of falsehood and impurity is nothing other than a demon. In contrast to these people of demonic culture stand the great souls of divine nature. The second verse reveals to us what the experience and action of these wise persons are like. From the distinction shown between these two, the seeker of self-elevation should adopt right intention in action and the correct perspective with which to view the world. The great souls endowed with divine qualities seek the direct realization of Me—the infinite, immortal Self—with undivided devotion. They know that I am the primordial cause of all beings. Just as those who understand clay perceive clay in all vessels made of clay, so too do the true worthy children of Hindu culture—those who know this conscious Self as the primordial cause of the world—see and honor all other persons in society as equal to themselves. No greater and more powerful socialism has ever been taught or propagated throughout the entire world. If the present generation fails to understand or appreciate this spiritual socialism—which is truly the sole universal remedy for all the world's afflictions and evils—the reason lies in what was described in the preceding verse: people are bewildered by their asura and rakshasa nature. How do the great souls worship You with undivided devotion?