📿 Shloka Collection

Avajananti Mam Mudhah

Gita 9.11 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9 — Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga
अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम् ।
परं भावमजानन्तो मम भूतमहेश्वरम् ॥
Avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum ashritam
Param bhavam ajananto mama bhuta-maheshvaram
अवजानन्ति
they disregard, they scorn
मां
me
मूढाः
the deluded, the foolish
मानुषीं तनुम्
a human body
आश्रितम्
having taken
परं भावम्
the supreme nature
अजानन्तः
not knowing
भूतमहेश्वरम्
the great Lord of all beings

Krishna addresses a common human failing. The deluded see him walking, talking, eating — and conclude he is just another person. They cannot look past the human form to see the supreme reality within.

We do this constantly in everyday life. We meet a quiet, unassuming person and dismiss them — only to discover later that they carried remarkable depth. Appearances deceive those who stop at the surface. In Krishna's case, this misjudgement is cosmic in scale: the Lord of all beings stands before them, and they see only a man.

The word 'mudhah' does not mean stupid in an insulting sense. It means clouded — someone whose vision is obscured by what is immediately visible. They are not evil, just unable to see beyond form.

Shlokas 9.11 and 9.12 form a pair. Here, the delusion is identified. In 9.12, its consequences are described. Together, they paint a picture of moha — the inability to see what is truly present.

The Bhagavata Purana's tenth book shows this pattern repeatedly: Kamsa and others encountered Krishna as a child or a youth and could not see the supreme reality standing before them.

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