Choose to serve Krishna with intelligence, or serve lust and false pride while living in demonic illusion.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 16.10 — February 6, 1975, Honolulu 750206BG-HONOLULU [47:32 Minutes] BG-16.10_750206BG-HONOLULU Nitāi: [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [devotees repeat] kāmam āśritya duṣpūraṁ dambha-māna-madānvitāḥ mohād gṛhītvāsad-grāhān pravartante 'śuci-vratāḥ [Bg. 16.10] [break] [02:04] "The demoniac, taking shelter of insatiable lust, pride and false prestige, and being thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attracted by the impermanent." Prabhupāda: kāmam āśritya duṣpūraṁ dambha-māna-madānvitāḥ mohād gṛhītvāsad-grāhān pravartante 'śuci-vratāḥ [Bg. 16.10] So the demons... We have explained who are demons and who are divine, or demigods. Demigods means those who are devotee of the Lord. Viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved daivaḥ.
Viṣṇu-bhakta: the all-pervasive Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotee. The Godhead is called deva, and his devotees are called daiva. So we are discussing about the characteristics of the demons. So they have lost their intelligence.
Etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmānaḥ alpa-buddhayaḥ [Bg. 16.9]. Naṣṭātmānaḥ. Ātmānaḥ means spirit soul. So they have lost the sense of spirit soul. They do not know that "I am not this body.
I am spirit soul. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi(1)." So therefore they do not know this. Therefore they are called naṣṭātmānaḥ. They have lost their spiritual sense.
Why? Alpa-buddhayaḥ, not very intelligent. We have discussed very elaborately. Anyone who has got intelligence, he can understand that "I am not this body. Within this body there is a living force, and without that living force the body is useless, lump of matter.
That's all. So long the spirit soul is there, I am Mr. Such-and-such, I am Mr. this, I am Mr. that." [child coughing] [aside:] So this child should be... But as soon as the spirit soul is away, that Mr. lying on the floor, if somebody kicks on his face, he does not protest.
Mr. finished. But the fools still take care of that bodily Mr., not the soul Mr. Without the soul, it is nothing but a lump of matter. Just like in your country I have seen the machine. In the beginning, when I came to your country, I saw some typewriter machine is throw in the garbage.