etāṁ dṛṣṭimavaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmāno’lpabuddhayaḥ | prabhavantyugrakarmāṇaḥ kṣayāya jagato’hitāḥ ||16.9||
Having recourse to this view, (these) enemies of the world whose minds are destroyed, who are of meagre thinking and cruel actions, are there very much for the destruction of the world.
People who recourse to this view (verse 16.8) is naṣṭātmānaḥ - those whose minds are destroyed, means they have no discrimination. And they are alpabuddhayaḥ - those who has small thinking, since the mind is committed to nothing beyond sense perception. What they see alone is the truth, and anything more than what the senses can enjoy has no reality. Further ugrakarmāṇaḥ - they are whose actions are cruel. They can employ any means even hurting others to reach the end. kṣayāya jagato’hitāḥ - they are destructions to the world therefore they are enemies of the world.
kāmamāśritya duṣpūraṁ dambhamānamadānvitāḥ |
mohād gṛhītvāsadgrāhān pravartante’śucivratāḥ ||16.10||
Resorting to desire that is difficult to fulfil, those who are riddled with pretension, demand for respect, and pride, whose pursuits are unbecoming, having adopted false purposes due to delusion, engage themselves (in various actions).
These three words - dambha, māna, and mada have very little difference in meaning, but when they are used together, we have to see the distinct sense of each. Dambha as we have seen, is making own’s glories known to others, whether one has them or not, therefore it is said to be pretension here. Māna is attitude, “I am praise worthy and demand for respect.” Mada is inappropriate pride of one’s knowledge, skill, etc, instead of gratitude and humility.
Due to delusion - mohāt in the form of false values and priorities due to lack of discrimination, these people under discussion adopted false purposes - gṛhītvāsadgrāhān, they engage themselves in various actions - pravartante to pursues these ends with commitment. Their actions have no ending because they committed to desires that cannot be fulfilled at all - kāmamāśritya duṣpūraṁ, in the sense that their desire has no limit. This is why we compare desire to fire - anala one who never says enough.
cintāmaparimeyāṁ ca pralayāntāmupāśritāḥ | kāmopabhogaparamā etāvaditi niścitāḥ ||16.11||
āśāpāśaśatairbaddhāḥ kāmakrodhaparāyaṇāḥ | īhante kāmabhogārtham anyāyenārthasañcayān ||16.12||
Those committed to immeasurable concern until death, intent upon enjoyment of objects of desire, having concluded, “It (life) is this much alone,” committed to desire and anger, and bound by hundreds of fetters of hope, engage themselves in the illegitimate accumulation of wealth for the enjoyment of objects of desire.
These are people whose concerns have no limits - cintāmaparimeyāṁ. Their worries about their possessions, children, etc, continue right up until the time of their death - pralayāntām. This implies over attachment towards one’s possession in this life. Therefore the ashrama system (stage of life) in the Vedic system is very good to thin up the attachment when at the retirement age, one lives a secluded life from family and society to focus on moksa pursue (vānaprastha ashrama).
kāmopabhogaparamā - to the extent that objects are available to their satisfaction and expectation, they are happy. Generally this is very natural. Who doesn’t want to fulfil one’s wish and be happy? This implies we are exercising our free will to get what we like and avoid what we don’t like. But we must make sure this free will must be in line with dharma. As a mumuksu (one who desires of moksa), one can see this value from a more profound point. When one doesn’t want to be caught in the condition when only fulfilment of desire can make one happy, one should freeing one’s free will - not letting our likes and dislikes held hostage our happiness. By understanding that no matter what happened to this body-mind-senses, I am not affected, because my nature is pūrnatvam - wholeness. No matter how much adding or taking away from whole, the whole remains the whole (untouched).
And their pursuits are backed by the philosophy that there is nothing more in life, this life alone is the human end, there is nothing beyond - this is their conclusion - etāvaditi niścitāḥ.