Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Now Krishna will say how people indulge in violence for the sake of money. 

Bg 16.13-15

idam adya mayā labdham
imaṁ prāpsye manoratham
idam astīdam api me
bhaviṣyati punar dhanam

asau mayā hataḥ śatrur
haniṣye cāparān api
īśvaro ’ham ahaṁ bhogī
siddho ’haṁ balavān sukhī

āḍhyo ’bhijanavān asmi
ko ’nyo ’sti sadṛśo mayā
yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣya
ity ajñāna-vimohitāḥ

Synonyms: 

idam — this; adya — today; mayā — by me; labdham — gained; imam — this; prāpsye — I shall gain; manaḥ–ratham — according to my desires; idam — this; asti — there is; idam — this; api — also; me — mine; bhaviṣyati— it will increase in the future; punaḥ — again; dhanam — wealth; asau — that; mayā — by me; hataḥ — has been killed; śatruḥ — enemy; haniṣye — I shall kill; ca — also; aparān — others; api — certainly; īśvaraḥ — the lord; aham — I am; aham — I am; bhogī — the enjoyer; siddhaḥ — perfect; aham — I am; bala–vān — powerful; sukhī — happy; āḍhyaḥ — wealthy; abhijana–vān — surrounded by aristocratic relatives; asmi — I am; kaḥ — who; anyaḥ — other; asti — there is; sadṛśaḥ — like; mayā — me; yakṣye — I shall sacrifice; dāsyāmi — I shall give charity; modiṣye — I shall rejoice; iti — thus; ajñāna — by ignorance; vimohitāḥ — deluded.

Translation: 

The demoniac person thinks: “So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him, and my other enemies will also be killed. I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.” In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance.

idam adya mayā labdham, idam adya mayā, this much I have, labdham, gained.

imaṁ prāpsye manoratham, manoratha, in vedic times mind is compared with a chariot, if you wanted to go fast and comfortable then you use chariot, if you use horse then you can go fast but it will not be comfortable, so one sit comfortable in chariot, so similarly one sits in minds chariot, then sitting on mind’s chariot one just dreams, I will do this, I will gain this etc. there is another analogy with chariot and horses that is different there mind is reins and intelligence is charioteer. Here mind itself is compared to the chariot and we are the passengers. Like the poor person which thinks I will make more and more money and then finally breaks the pot.  

idam astīdam api me
bhaviṣyati punar dhanam

idam astīdam api me, this much I have right now 

bhaviṣyati, in the future, punar dhanam, I will have much-much more.

Now in this world the resources are limited and the desires are unlimited. 

So there is wealth and people are competing for wealth. People are ready to beg borrow steal kill slaughter massacre for the sake of money.

And the person thinks if I will have wealth I will make enemy.

So

asau mayā hataḥ śatrur, hataḥ śatrur, this enemy I have already killed, 

here Krishna is describing the mentality which seems to be like underworld dons. 

haniṣye cāparān api, and that person I will kill after, like that when I kill everyone then what happen? 

īśvaro ’ham ahaṁ bhogī, so this is God project of demonic actually demonic are out to be God to enjoy it to be number one, as God is the controller and enjoyer, so as soon as the property is mine I will control it, I will enjoy it. 

Krishna said Bhogta Ram Yahjna Tapasam, Krishan says He is the enjoyer, He is the enjoyer of sacrifices, He is the enjoyer of everything actually, and He is the Supreme Ishwars, Maya Dakshena Prakriti Suyate Sa Chara Acahra, so this is the way a person tries to display God, try to become God, it may not be that the person is explicitly thinking that I wanted to become God, there are some people who think like that also, Like King Vena, in SB 4th Kanto, explicitly told Brahman that you should worship me, and no need to worship Narayana, there are some people who may do like that explicitly, other’s may not do like that explicitly but their sub conscious desires may be like that, īśvaro ’ham ahaṁ bhogī

siddho ’haṁ balavān sukhī, I am perfect I am strong I am Happy. The ultimate goal is they wanted to be happy, I am siddha I am perfect. In this world there is fascination with champions. A devotee doesn’t wanted to become best to gain worldly recognition but to give Krishna the best of what I can do. Hanuman Ji has done better than what he could have thought of doing. Devotees doesn’t wanted to excel to supersede Krishna but to glorify Krishna. But demoniac wanted to excel for glorification of their own ego. 

āḍhyo ’bhijanavān asmi

āḍhyo, I am wealthy

’bhijanavān asmi, jana is people, I am surrounded by aristocratic people.

So people wanted to move around in glamorous social circles. I know this and that person I have got photo with that person, I move with this and that person. It is the pleasure which comes with the proximity with famous ones. 

So ’bhijanavān asmi.

ko ’nyo ’sti sadṛśo mayā, who is there like me? One of Krishna’s characteristic is He is Asmmurdhava means there is no one equal to Him. E.g. of Mohamed Ali, body just takes away and a champion sports star becomes non performer. One may think that I was at top but after that the craving is there I wanted to be there. Gone with the wind the record goes away!!!

yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣya, 

this is illusion to think that there is no one greater than me, that is the illusion of godless people.

These people are completely self-centered so much so that they are ego-maniac. 

So people should think good about me so yakṣye, I will do some fire sacrifices, dāsyāmi, I will give some charity, then modiṣya I will get so much reputation. When people will think that I am such kind of person, I will enjoy it. 

Religion should be a heart transformer and not face transformer. They just wanted to pretend religious. 

We should give our heart to Krishna but if we can’t do that we should give what is in our heart to Krishna.

ity ajñāna-vimohitāḥ, 

in this way these people are bewildered by ignorance.

Why this is Ajnana because all these are illusion none of these are going to last.

End of transcription.