16.8 The view being described Krishna speaks
असत्यमप्रतिष्ठं ते जगदाहुरनीश्वरम्
अपरस्परसम्भूतं किमन्यत्कामहैतुकम्
asatyam apratiṣhṭhaṁ te jagad āhur anīśhvaram
aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ kim anyat kāma-haitukam
They say the world is without truth, without ground, without a governing power — that it comes about by the mutual working of things, with desire as its only cause.
Explanation
A view is described, and it is a recognisable one.
The world without truth, without ground, without a governing power — arising from the mutual working of things, with desire as its only cause.
That is not a caricature; it is a fair summary of a position that existed then and exists now. The Gita is arguing with something somebody actually held, which is why this verse reads so oddly current.
Going further
Word by word
- asatyam
- without absolute truth
- apratiṣhṭham
- without any basis
- te
- they
- jagat
- the world
- āhuḥ
- say
- anīśhvaram
- without a God
- aparaspara
- without cause
- sambhūtam
- created
- kim
- what
- anyat
- other
- kāma-haitukam
- for sexual gratification only
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They say the world is without truth, without ground, without a governing power, that it comes about by the mutual working of things, with desire as its only cause.
This is a fair summary of a position, not a caricature, and it was a live philosophical school when the text was written. The Gita disagrees with it, but notice that it states it accurately enough to be recognisable.