Bhagavad Gita BG 11.29
Chapter 11, Verse 29 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
यथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतङ्गाः विशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगाः । तथैव नाशाय विशन्ति लोकाः तवापि वक्त्राणि समृद्धवेगाः ॥
yatha pradiptam jvalanam patangah vishanti nashaya samrddha-vegah tathaiva nashaya vishanti lokah tavapi vaktraNi samrddha-vegah
Meaning
As moths rush with great speed into a blazing fire for their destruction, so the worlds rush into Your mouths for their destruction, with great speed.
Understanding
The second simile — and a more tragic one. Yatha pradiptam jvalanam patangah (as moths rush into a blazing fire) — vishanti nashaya samrddha-vegah (they enter for destruction, with abundant/great speed). Samrddha-vegah — great rushing speed, surging momentum. The moth metaphor is different from the river: rivers go to the ocean naturally and find their completion. Moths rush to the flame and are destroyed. Both images are true: the cosmic dissolution is both completion (river into ocean) and destruction (moth into flame). Tathiva nashaya vishanti lokah (so the worlds rush in for destruction). Tavapi vaktraNi samrddha-vegah (into your mouths with great speed). Arjuna sees both truths: the natural completion and the terrible destruction.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| प्रदीप्तम् | pradiptam | blazing, burning brightly, fully lit |
| पतङ्गाः | patangah | moths (literally 'fliers', those that fly toward light) |
| नाशाय | nashaya | for destruction, toward annihilation |
| समृद्धवेगाः | samrddha-vegah | with great/abundant speed, with surging momentum |
| यथा | yathā | just as |
| प्रदीप्तम् | pradīptam | blazing |
| ज्वलनम् | jvalanam | a flame |
| पतंगाः | pataṃgāḥ | moths |
| विशन्ति | viśanti | enter into |
| नाशाय | nāśāya | to their destruction |
| समृद्ध-वेगाः | samṛddha-vegāḥ | with tremendous speed |
| तथैव | tathaiva | so also, in the same way |
| नाशाय | nāśāya | to destruction |
| विशन्ति | viśanti | enter |
| लोकाः | lokāḥ | the worlds, the people |
| तव | tava | Your |
| अपि | api | also |
| वक्त्राणि | vaktrāṇi | the mouths |
| समृद्ध-वेगाः | samṛddha-vegāḥ | with tremendous speed |