Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, Verse 11

अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम् । परं भावमजानन्तो मम भूतमहेश्वरम्

avajānanti māṃ mūḍhā mānuṣīṃ tanumāśritam | paraṃ bhāvamajānanto mama bhūtamaheśvaram

Translation

Fools disregard Me clad in human form, not knowing My higher being as the Great Lord of beings.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

avajānanti

despise

mām

me

mūḍhāḥ

the foolish

mānuṣīm

human

tanum

form

āśritam

refuged in

param

supreme

bhāvam

nature

ajānantaḥ

unknowing

mama

my

bhūtamaheśvaram

of beings, the great Lord

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Fools, unable to discriminate, despise Me living among them with a human body — these fools not understanding My higher being, not knowing that I am the Supreme Self, that I am, like ākāśa, more intimately connected with things than even ākāśa, that I am the Great Lord, the very Self, of all beings. By continually despising Me, these poor creatures are ruined.