एतां दृष्टिमवष्टभ्य नष्टात्मानोऽल्पबुद्धयः | प्रभवन्त्युग्रकर्माणः क्षयाय जगतोऽहिताः || ९ ||
etāṁ dṛṣṭim avaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmāno 'lpa-buddhayaḥ prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ kṣayāya jagato 'hitāḥ
etām—this; dṛṣṭim—view; avaṣṭabhya—accepting; naṣṭa-ātmānaḥ—lost souls; alpa-buddhayaḥ—of small intelligence; prabhavanti—flourish; ugra-karmāṇaḥ—performing cruel actions; kṣayāya—for destruction; jagataḥ—of the world; ahitāḥ—enemies.
“Holding to this view, these lost souls of small intelligence rise up to perform cruel actions for the destruction of the world—enemies of humanity.”
When the nihilistic view becomes the foundation of action, it produces individuals who use worldly power for destruction rather than creation. Stripped of the belief in any transcendent accountability, such persons feel entitled to cruelty in pursuit of their desires. Ramanuja emphasizes that right action is impossible without right knowledge; corrupted metaphysics inevitably produces corrupted ethics.
You need not be obviously 'demoniac' to carry a version of this destructive worldview. Subtle nihilism—the background assumption that nothing truly matters, so why bother being ethical when no one is watching—is common and worth examining. Sustainable ethical behavior requires a genuine conviction that actions have consequences and that truth and care actually matter.