16.12 A hundred cords Krishna speaks
आशापाशशतैर्बद्धाः कामक्रोधपरायणाः
ईहन्ते कामभोगार्थमन्यायेनार्थसञ्चयान्
āśhā-pāśha-śhatair baddhāḥ kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
īhante kāma-bhogārtham anyāyenārtha-sañchayān
bound by a hundred cords of expectation, given over to desire and anger, they strive by wrongful means to amass wealth for the fulfilling of desire.
Explanation
A hundred cords of expectation.
āśā-pāśa-śataiḥ — bound by a hundred nooses of hope. And then the means: wealth amassed by wrongful means, for the fulfilling of desire.
The image is of being tied by one's own anticipations. Nothing external is doing the binding, which is the same account of bondage the whole book gives.
Word by word
- āśhā-pāśha
- bondage of desires
- śhataiḥ
- by hundreds
- baddhāḥ
- bound
- kāma
- lust
- krodha
- anger
- parāyaṇāḥ
- dedicated to
- īhante
- strive
- kāma
- lust
- bhoga
- gratification of the senses
- artham
- for
- anyāyena
- by unjust means
- artha
- wealth
- sañchayān
- to accumulate
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