Sanskrit
कर्शयन्तः शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतसः । मां चैवान्तःशरीरस्थं तान्विद्ध्यासुरनिश्चयान् ॥
karśayantaḥ śarīrasthaṃ bhūtagrāmam acetasaḥ māṃ caivāntaḥśarīrasthaṃ tān viddhy āsuraniścayān
Translation
Unintelligent, tormenting the aggregated elements forming the body, and Me also, seated in the inner body, know these demoniacal in their resolves.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The verdict on verse 5’s self-glorifying ascetics: their austerity tortures not just their own body’s elements but Krishna himself, present as the antaḥśarīrastha — the one seated within the body — a phrase that echoes the indwelling-Self language of Chapter 15’s puruṣottama teaching. Calling their resolve āsura (demoniac) draws a direct line to Chapter 16’s āsurī-sampad catalogue; the point isn’t that self-discipline is suspect, it’s that discipline weaponised against one’s own body, done from vanity, is indistinguishable in its interior structure from cruelty.