BG 9.12

9.12 Moghasah, of vain hopes. So also, mogha-karmanah, of vain actions: their rites, such as Agnihotra etc. which are undertaken by them, verily become vain, fruitless actions, because of dishonouring the Lord, disregarding Him who is their own Self. In this way they are of vain actions. Similarly, mogha-jnanah, of vain knowledge: of fruitless knowledge; even their knowledge verily becomes useless. And vicetasah, senseless: i.e., they lose their power of discrimination. Besides, [Besides, in the next birth৷৷.] they become sritah, possessed of; the mohinim, self-deceptive, self-delusive; prakritim, disposition; raksasim, of fiends; and asurim, of demons-according to which the body is the Self; i.e., they become habitually inclined to act cruelly, saying, 'cut, break, drink, eat, steal others' wealth,' etc. [The habit to cut, break, drink, eat, etc. is characteristic of fiends. The habit of stealing others' wealth, etc. is characteristic of demons.] This is stated in the Sruti, 'Those worlds of devils (are covered by blinding darkness)' (Is. 3).

9.12 Senseless men entertain a nature which is deluding and akin to that of Raksasas (fiends) and Asuras (monsters). Their hopes are vain, acts are vain and knowledge is vain.

9.12 Their hopes are vain, their actions worthless, their knowledge futile; they are without sense, deceitful, barbarous and godless.

9.12 Their hopes are vain, their actions worthless, their knowledge futile; they are without sense, deceitful, barbarous and godless.

9.12. [They] are of futile aspirations, futile actions, futile knowledge and wrong intellect; and they take recourse only to the delusive nature that is demoniac and also devilish.

9.12 Senseless men entertain a nature which is deluding and akin to that of Raksasas (fiends) and Asuras (monsters). Their hopes are vain, acts are vain and knowledge is vain.

9.12 Of vain hopes, of vain actions, of vain knowledge, and senseless, they become verily possessed of the deceptive disposition of fiends and demons.

9.12 Men yielding to the deluding nature characteristics of Asuras and Raksas and not aware of My higher nature like compassion etc. When I am in a human form, are possessed of vain hopes, i.e, their hopes remain fruitless, and their knowledge also is vain, i.e., is fruitless. They are so because of their erroneous understanding which fails to know that all things, mobile and immobile, belong to Me. They are ignorant on account of their being devoid of knowledge of truth everywhere. Whatever they do regarding Me, the Lord of all, is done with an attitude that I am an ordinary mortal. So their efforts go in vain. All this springs from their partaking of the nature of Raksasas and Asuras.

9.12 Mogha-etc. Their action, knowledge and aspirations are all futile, as these are concerned with the unreal. The demoniac and devilish nature etc. They are of the nature of excessive desire and ignorance.

9.12 Moghasah, of vain hopes. So also, mogha-karmanah, of vain actions: their rites, such as Agnihotra etc. which are undertaken by them, verily become vain, fruitless actions, because of dishonouring the Lord, disregarding Him who is their own Self. In this way they are of vain actions. Similarly, mogha-jnanah, of vain knowledge: of fruitless knowledge; even their knowledge verily becomes useless. And vicetasah, senseless: i.e., they lose their power of discrimination. Besides, [Besides, in the next birth৷৷.] they become sritah, possessed of; the mohinim, self-deceptive, self-delusive; prakritim, disposition; raksasim, of fiends; and asurim, of demons-according to which the body is the Self; i.e., they become habitually inclined to act cruelly, saying, 'cut, break, drink, eat, steal others' wealth,' etc. [The habit to cut, break, drink, eat, etc. is characteristic of fiends. The habit of stealing others' wealth, etc. is characteristic of demons.] This is stated in the Sruti, 'Those worlds of devils (are covered by blinding darkness)' (Is. 3).

Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.