Chapter IX · Śloka 12
मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतसः ।
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिताः ॥
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिताः ॥
moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo mogha-jñānā vicetasaḥ |
rākṣasīm āsurīṃ caiva prakṛtiṃ mohinīṃ śritāḥ ||
rākṣasīm āsurīṃ caiva prakṛtiṃ mohinīṃ śritāḥ ||
Bewildered, their hopes are vain, their actions vain, their knowledge vain; they take refuge in the deluding nature of demons and rākṣasas.
Three-fold futility — vain hope, vain effort, vain knowledge — characterizes those who deny the divine presence in the avatar. Their life is built on a fundamental category error.