न मां दुष्कृतिनो मूढाः प्रपद्यन्ते नराधमाः | माययापहृतज्ञाना आसुरं भावमाश्रिताः || १५ ||
na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ
na—not; mām—unto Me; duṣkṛtinaḥ—miscreants/wrongdoers; mūḍhāḥ—fools; prapadyante—surrender; nara-adhamāḥ—the lowest of mankind; māyayā—by illusion; apahṛta-jñānāḥ—those whose knowledge is stolen; āsuram—demonic; bhāvam—nature; āśritāḥ—having taken shelter of.
“Those who are evildoers, the lowest of mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who take shelter of a demonic nature—such persons do not surrender to Me.”
The obstacle to self-knowledge is not intellectual incapacity but moral and attitudinal. The 'demonic nature' (āsura-bhāva) is characterised by arrogance, the belief that the ego is the ultimate reality, and the denial of any higher principle. Such orientation closes the very faculty through which the Divine is perceived—buddhi (discriminative intelligence).
Cultivate the opposite of āsura-bhāva: humility, gratitude, and openness to being taught. Pride and defensiveness block the wisdom that is trying to reach us through teachers, circumstances, and inner silence. Regularly examining one's inner attitudes is as important as any formal practice.