📿 Shloka Collection

Moghasah Mogha-karmanah

Gita 9.12 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9 — Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga
मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतसः ।
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिताः ॥
Moghasah mogha-karmanoh mogha-jnanah vichetasah
Rakshashim asurim chaiva prakritim mohinim shritah
मोघाशाः
those with futile hopes
मोघकर्माणः
those with fruitless actions
मोघज्ञानाः
those with empty knowledge
विचेतसः
those with deranged understanding
राक्षसीम्
demoniac
आसुरीं
of the asuras
प्रकृतिं
nature, disposition
मोहिनीं
that which deludes
श्रिताः
having taken shelter of

Krishna describes the result of ignoring the divine. Their hopes come to nothing. Their actions bear no lasting fruit. Even their knowledge, however extensive, fails to liberate them. They remain caught in a deluding nature — what Krishna calls rakshasi and asuri prakriti.

These are not labels for any community or group. They describe states of mind. When a person turns away from the deeper truth and lives entirely in the grip of desire, ego, and delusion, that person's inner nature has taken on these qualities. The fix is not condemnation — it is the turn toward shraddha that Krishna described in 9.3.

The word 'mogha' appears three times here — mogha-asha, mogha-karma, mogha-jnana. This triple futility paints the full picture of a life lived without recognition of the divine.

Gita Chapter 16 (16.4-16.6) gives a detailed description of asuri and daivi nature. Shloka 9.12 serves as a preview of that entire discussion.

Chapter 9 · 12 / 34
Chapter 9 · 12 / 34 Next →