ते वै रजःप्रकृतयस्तमसा मूढचेतसः सतां विद्वेषमाचेरुरारादागतमृत्यवः
te vai rajaḥ-prakṛtayas tamasā mūḍha-cetasaḥ satāṁ vidveṣam ācerur ārād āgata-mṛtyavaḥ
Synonyms
te—all the asuric ministers; vai—indeed; rajaḥ-prakṛtayaḥ—surcharged with the mode of passion; tamasā—overwhelmed by the mode of ignorance; mūḍha-cetasaḥ—foolish persons; satām—of saintly persons; vidveṣam—persecution; āceruḥ—executed; ārāt āgata-mṛtya-vaḥ—impending death having already overtaken them..
Translation
Surcharged with passion and ignorance and not knowing what was good or bad for them, the asuras, for whom impending death was waiting, began the persecution of the saintly persons.
Purport
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.13):
dehino 'smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati
"As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change." Irresponsible persons, surcharged with passion and ignorance, foolishly do things that are not to be done (nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma). But one should know the results of irresponsible actions, as explained in the next verse.