📿 Shloka Collection

Asurim Yonim Apannah

Gita 16.20 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 — Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga
आसुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि ।
मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम् ॥
Asurim yonim apannah mudhah janmani janmani
Mam aprapya eva Kaunteya tato yanti adhamam gatim
आसुरीम्
demonic
योनिम्
birth, womb
आपन्नाः
having attained
मूढाः
deluded, foolish
जन्मनि जन्मनि
birth after birth
माम्
Me (the Lord)
अप्राप्य
without reaching
एव
indeed
कौन्तेय
O Arjuna (son of Kunti)
ततः
thereafter
यान्ति
they go
अधमाम् गतिम्
to the lowest state

The previous shloka described the casting into demonic births. This one traces the trajectory further. These deluded people, janmani janmani — birth after birth — keep receiving demonic births. One life of cruelty leads to the next life in darker circumstances, which breeds more cruelty, which brings an even darker birth. A whirlpool that pulls deeper with every rotation.

The most painful detail: mam aprapya eva — without ever reaching Me. The highest purpose of human life, according to the Gita, is to realize the Lord. These people miss that destination entirely. Not once, but across lifetime after lifetime. The opportunity keeps arriving, and they keep missing it.

Finally, they go to adhamam gatim — the lowest possible state. This is the chapter's gravest warning. Krishna delivers it directly to Arjuna, calling him Kaunteya (son of Kunti), as if to say: understand this clearly, and make sure you never go down this road.

This shloka completes the thought begun in 16.19. There, Krishna said he casts them into demonic births; here, he says they never reach the Lord and sink to the lowest state.

The repetition janmani janmani — 'birth after birth' — hammers home the endlessness of this cycle. This is not a single punishment but a self-perpetuating downward spiral. The remedy comes in the very next shloka.

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