Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 Verse 20 भगवद् गीता अध्याय 16 श्लोक 20 असुरीं योनिमापन्ना मूढा जन्मनि जन्मनि। मामप्राप्यैव कौन्तेय ततो यान्त्यधमां गतिम्।।16.20।। English Translation - Swami Gambirananda 16.20 Being born among the demoniacal species in births after births, the foods, without ever reaching Me, O son of Kunti, attain conditions lower than that. English Translation - Swami Sivananda 16.20 Entering into demoniacal wombs and deluded, birth after birth, not attaining Me, they thus fall, O Arjuna, into a condition still lower than that. English Translation - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan 16.20. Having come to the demoniac womb, birth after birth, and not attaining Me at all, these deluded persons, therefore, pass to the lowest state, O son of Kunti ! English Commentary - Swami Sivananda 16.20 असुरीम् demoniacal? योनिम् womb? आपन्नाः entering into? मूढाः deluded? जन्मनि जन्मनि in birth after birth? माम् Me? अप्राप्य not attaining? एव still? कौन्तेय O son of Kunti (Arjuna)? ततः than that? यान्ति (they) fall into? अधमाम् lower? गतिम् condition (path or goal).Commentary These degraded Asuras are cast into the demoniacal wombs. They are reduced to the very lowest condition or the most appalling state. They are cast into utter darkness. They fall into lower and yet lower wombs in response to their own satanic desires and actions and their extreme Tamasic nature. From the birth of a tiger? they will get the birth of a serpent from a serpents they will get the birth of a wormfrom that they will get the birth of a tree? etc. In Sanskrit the suffix Tara denotes comparative degree and Tama is superlative degree. These people get Nikrishtatama Yonis (the lowest wombs).They do not reach Me as their minds are filled with impurities? as they do not tread the path of righteousness in accordance with the injunctions of the scriptures. The diabolical nature is inimical to spiritual progress. Therefore? you will have to annihilate the evil tendencies by cultivating divine alities and the practice of regular meditation. Then and only then will you attain liberation. English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's 16.20 Apannah, being born, having acired; (births) asurim, among the demoniacal; yonim, species; janmani janmani, in births after births; the mudhah, fools, non-discriminating ones; being born in every birth into species in which tamas prevails, and going downwards, aprapya eva, without ever reaching, approaching; mam, Me, who am God; O son of Kunti, yanti, they attain; gatim, conditions; tatah adhamam, lower even than that. Since there is not the least possibility of attaining Me, what is implied by saying, without ever reachin Me, is, by not attaining the virtuous path enjoined by Me. This is being stated as a summary of all the demoniacal alities. The triplet-under which are comprehended all the different demoniacal alities though they are infinite in number, (and) by the avoidance of which (three) they (all the demaniacal alities) become rejected, and which is the root of all evils- is being stated: English Translation of Commentary - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan 16.17-20 Atmasambhavitah etc. upto gatim. They pretend to perform sacrifices : The meaning is that their sacrifice is fruitless. Indeed all is ruined because of their anger. Or, namayjna [may mean] the sacrifices which are in name only. Or, it [may denote] those sacrifices that are performed for ones name sake i.e., for ones reputation, because of which one gets the appellation as He is performer of [such and such] sacrifices These sacrifices, performed out of hypocricy alone, do not , however fetch any fruit. Becasue these persons are rugged with anger etc., they hate people and by that they hate Me only [in fact]. For, I, the Vasudeva (the Universal Soul), dwell every-where. Entertaining hatred towards their own Soul, they perform action, that is hostile to themselves, and responsible for their own fall into the hells. These persons I hurl into nothing but the demoniac wombs. English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary 16.20 These deluded men, viz., those entertaining perverse knowledge about Me, attain repeatedly births that tend them to be antagonistic to Me. Never attaining Me, viz., never arriving at the knowledge that Vasudeva, the Lord and the ruler of all, truly exists, they go farther and farther down, from that birth, to the lowest level. Sri Krsna proceeds to explain the root-cause of the ruin to the self of demoniac nature: Commentary - Chakravarthi Ji Not attaining me, the asuras attain low births. However, those asuras in the form of Kamsa and others attained me, Krishna, who appeared at the end of dvapara yuga in the twenty eighth cycle of Vaivasvata Manu’s reign. Though hating me, they attained me in the form of liberation. Because I am an ocean of mercy, I give even such sinful asuras liberation, which is only attained by the perfection of bhakti and jnana. The Personified Vedas say: nibhrta-marun-mano’ksa drdha-yoga-yujo hrdi yan munaya upasate tad-arayo’pi yayuh smaranat Simply by constantly thinking of Him, the enemies of the Lord attained the same Supreme Truth whom sages fixed in yoga worship by controlling their breath, mind and senses. SB 10.87.23 This widens the scope of my supreme attractive position which I mentioned previously. But as the Bhagavatamrta Karika says: mam krsna-rupinam yavan napnuvanti mama dvisah tavad evadhamam yonim prapnuvantiti hi sphutam In as much as those who hate me do not attain me in my form as Krishna, it is clear that they attain the lowest births. Rudra Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary Those who take birth possessing the demoniac nature are obstructed by their own mentalities from ever approaching the path of righteousness that leads to association of the devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna and thus it is impossible for them to ever attain the mercy of the Supreme Lord or any of His authorised incarnations and expansions except when they are occasionally eradicated. Otherwise the demoniac continue their descent into lower and more degraded life forms such as worms and maggots as a just reward for their abominable and sinful activities. Brahma Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary Shri Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary The words asurim yonim means demoniac wombs and refers to birth of those jivas or embodied beings and even subtle existences that are diametrically opposed to the divine will of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Those of a demoniac nature never have an affinity or even tolerance for the path of righteousness and so they spawn and are hurled into wombs of lower and lower degraded demoniac forms as their reward to increase their venomous delusion. As such the words aprapya eva means that the demoniac can never attain the Supreme Lord and denotes that they are never imbued with the intelligence to have the consciousness to seek the association of the Vaisnavas or exclusive devotees of Lord Krishna and learn the ultimate truth submissively from them. Where after by receiving the mercy of the Vaisnavas devotees they would gradually become sanctified and after many births eventually achieve the qualifications necessary to be accepted as a disciple of a Vaisnava devotee who guides them on the path to the Supreme Lord. Otherwise without this eternal process it is impossible for the demoniac to ever receive the opportunity to attain Lord Krishna and thus they slip deeper and deeper into the darkness of ignorance birth after birth after birth after birth. The root cause by which those of a demoniac nature lose their paramount position as human beings imbued with free will and self-determination and instead sink into the instinctive consciousness of animal and reptiles, descending further into insects, worms and maggots is revealed next. Kumara Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary The words asurim yonim means demoniac wombs and refers to birth of those jivas or embodied beings and even subtle existences that are diametrically opposed to the divine will of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Those of a demoniac nature never have an affinity or even tolerance for the path of righteousness and so they spawn and are hurled into wombs of lower and lower degraded demoniac forms as their reward to increase their venomous delusion. As such the words aprapya eva means that the demoniac can never attain the Supreme Lord and denotes that they are never imbued with the intelligence to have the consciousness to seek the association of the Vaisnavas or exclusive devotees of Lord Krishna and learn the ultimate truth submissively from them. Where after by receiving the mercy of the Vaisnavas devotees they would gradually become sanctified and after many births eventually achieve the qualifications necessary to be accepted as a disciple of a Vaisnava devotee who guides them on the path to the Supreme Lord. Otherwise without this eternal process it is impossible for the demoniac to ever receive the opportunity to attain Lord Krishna and thus they slip deeper and deeper into the darkness of ignorance birth after birth after birth after birth. The root cause by which those of a demoniac nature lose their paramount position as human beings imbued with free will and self-determination and instead sink into the instinctive consciousness of animal and reptiles, descending further into insects, worms and maggots is revealed next. Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 16.20Aasureem yonimaapannaa moodhaa janmani janmani; Maamapraapyaiva kaunteya tato yaantyadhamaam gatim. Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 16.20tān—these; aham—I; dviṣhataḥ—hateful; krūrān—cruel; sansāreṣhu—in the material world; nara-adhamān—the vile and vicious of humankind; kṣhipāmi—I hurl; ajasram—again and again; aśhubhān—inauspicious; āsurīṣhu—demoniac; eva—indeed; yoniṣhu—in to the wombs; āsurīm—demoniac; yonim—wombs; āpannāḥ—gaining; mūḍhāḥ—the ignorant; janmani janmani—in birth after birth; mām—me; aprāpya—failing to reach; eva—even; kaunteya—Arjun, the son of Kunti; tataḥ—thereafter; yānti—go; adhamām—abominable; gatim—destination