असौ मया हतः शत्रुर्हनिष्ये चापरानपि | ईश्वरोऽहमहं भोगी सिद्धोऽहं बलवान्सुखी || १४ ||
asau mayā hataḥ śatrur haniṣye cāparān api īśvaro 'ham ahaṁ bhogī siddho 'haṁ balavān sukhī
asau—that; mayā—by me; hataḥ—has been killed; śatruḥ—enemy; haniṣye—I shall kill; ca—also; aparān—others; api—also; īśvaraḥ—the lord; aham—I; aham—I; bhogī—the enjoyer; siddhaḥ—perfect; aham—I; balavān—powerful; sukhī—happy.
“'That enemy has been slain by me, and others too I shall slay. I am the lord, I am the enjoyer, I am perfect, I am powerful, I am happy.'”
This verse captures the complete inflation of ahamkara (ego) at its most extreme: the demoniac person sees themselves as the sole agent, the sovereign lord, the ultimate enjoyer. Every claim here is a usurpation of what belongs to the Supreme: lordship, enjoyment, perfection, power. This is not confidence but delusion—the tragic confusion of the finite self with the infinite.
The claims in this verse—'I am the lord, I am the enjoyer, I am perfect'—are the opposite of the humility the Gita prescribes. A healthy check on this tendency is the practice of recognizing the many conditions, beings, and forces that enable your success in anything. Gratitude and acknowledgment of interdependence dissolve this kind of ego-inflation before it becomes toxic.