9.12 Vain hopes, vain actions Krishna speaks
मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतसः
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिताः
moghāśhā mogha-karmāṇo mogha-jñānā vichetasaḥ
rākṣhasīm āsurīṁ chaiva prakṛitiṁ mohinīṁ śhritāḥ
Their hopes are vain, their actions vain, their knowledge vain, their minds astray. They have taken the side of what deludes and destroys.
Explanation
Everything vain, four times over.
Hopes, actions, knowledge — moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo mogha-jñānāḥ — and minds astray.
The repetition is the verse's whole force. And note that knowledge is on the list of things that can be empty, which is the same claim 17.28 will make about a faithless offering.
Word by word
- mogha-āśhāḥ
- of vain hopes
- mogha-karmāṇaḥ
- of vain actions
- mogha-jñānāḥ
- of baffled knowledge
- vichetasaḥ
- deluded
- rākṣhasīm
- demoniac
- āsurīm
- atheistic
- cha
- and
- eva
- certainly
- prakṛitim
- material energy
- mohinīm
- bewildered
- śhritāḥ
- take shelter
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