…. mūḍha means “ass”, “donkey”

The gross materialists who ignore their relationship with God are
described in the Bhagavad-gītā as mūḍhas. Mūḍha means “ass“, “donkey“

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is plainly said, mūḍha. Mūḍha means asses, rascal. He does not know his own interest. He is called mūḍha, ass. Just like ass. Ass is whole day working with tons of cloth on his back, but he does not… Not a piece of cloth belongs to him. This is ass. And he is working so hard only for a morsel of grass, which is available everywhere. But he is thinking that “This gentleman, washerman, is giving me food.” This is ass. Such food can be available anywhere and everywhere, but he is thinking like that and working so hard.

So karmīs are like that. He will eat two capātis or four capātis, but he is working day and night. If you want to see him, he will say, “Oh, I have no time.” He does not think at any time that “I am interested to eat four capātis, which can be very easily available. So why I am working so hard?” But that sense does not come. He is working, working, working, “More money, more money, more money, more money, more money.”

The Bhāgavata says, “No, no. This is not your business.” The four capātis is already destined to you; you will get, any circumstances. You don’t waste your time simply under some false impression of economic development. Don’t waste your time. You cannot get more, you cannot get less. That is already there. So you utilize your time for understanding Kṛṣṇa. That is your business. People will not accept it. “Oh, this is a waste of time. Attending the class of Bhagavad-gītā, this is waste of time. By this time I could have earned hundreds of dollars.” That is their business. That is called durbuddhi, durbuddhi, not very intelligent. All mūḍha, asses. (Bhagavad-gita lecture, London, July 19, 1973 : 730719BG.LON)

So duṣkṛtina. Those who are always engaged in sinful activities, they are called duṣkṛtina. And mūḍhāḥ, they have been described by learned scholars as the karmīs, mūḍhāḥ. Mūḍha, the exact meaning of mūḍha is an ass. So the karmīs, the fruitive workers, they work very hard for sense gratification. But a similar mūḍha is an ass. A similar mūḍha means the ass is generally engaged in service by the washerman. The washerman loads the ass with tons of cloth, and whole day he works for the washerman, carrying tons of cloth. But at the end of the day he is offered a morsel of grass, and he is satisfied. And by eating that grass, when he is sexually impulse, he goes to the she-ass, and the she-ass kicks on his face. And still, he runs after the she-ass. The karmīs, they are also like that. Therefore they have been called as mūḍhas. They are working whole day very hard, but they are eating sometimes two cāpāṭis. That’s all. Earning one crore of rupees per day, but eating two cāpāṭis only. Therefore they are mūḍhas. He has no sense that “Only for two cāpāṭis I am working so hard. And for sex life I have to bear so much expenses at the order of my wife.” These are facts. We should not be sorry. Because Kṛṣṇa says. When we, I mean to say, deliberately discuss on śāstras, there is no question of compromising. We must face the bare facts. (Bhagavad-gita lecture, Bombay, April 5, 1971 : 710405BG.BOM)

So Lord Kṛṣṇa says that the mūḍha… Mūḍha means the foolish, just like animals or less than animal. An ass, he is called mūḍha. So avajānanti. Avajānanti means deride. “Deride at Me.” That any person who does not believe in God, he must be either a madman or foolish man number one. Those who cannot see, they are described here as mūḍha. Mūḍha means foolish or less intelligent class men. So avajānanti māṁ mūḍha mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam [Bg. 9.11]. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “Because I am here amongst the human being as a man, therefore those who are less intelligent, they are deriding at Me.” Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam paraṁ bhāvam ajānanta [Bg. 9.11].

Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ [Bg. 7.15]. Mūḍha means one who has no brain. Mūḍha, this word, applies to the ass, because ass has no brain. He works so hard for little grass, which is available everywhere. But still, he thinks that “This washerman is giving me grass.” Therefore mūḍha. He’ll stand at the door of the washerman whole day, eating little grass, which he can get anywhere. So that is mūḍha. Mūḍhaḥ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. Bas. And anyone who is a mūḍha, he does not know Kṛṣṇa. So so long we do not know Kṛṣṇa, we shall remain mūḍha-ass. That’s the fact. The whole system is to understand Kṛṣṇa. But one does not know Kṛṣṇa, so he remains mūḍha, and therefore all his attempt is baffled. (Bengali) [break] …speaking that “Everyone who is not a kṛṣṇa-bhakta, he’s a gādhā.”

TEXT 15
na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ
prapadyante narādhamāḥ
māyayāpahṛta-jñānā
āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ

SYNONYMS
na—not; mām—unto Me; duṣkṛtinaḥ—miscreants; mūḍhāḥ—foolish; prapadyante—surrender; narādhamāḥ—lowest among mankind; māyayā—by the illusory energy; apahṛta—stolen by illusion; jñānāḥ—knowledge; asuram—demonic; bhāvam—nature; āśritāḥ—accepting.

TRANSLATION
“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.” (Bg 7.15) Thus karmīs who engage in sinful acts and who do not know the true objective of life are called mūḍhas, asses.

So these persons, māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43), they have been described by Prahlāda Mahārāja as the most hated, foolish persons, vimūḍhān. Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa has mentioned this class of men as mūḍha. And Prahlāda Mahārāja has described these classes of men, not only mūḍha but vimūḍha. Vimūḍha means particularly mūḍha. Pramattaḥ. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). Same thing, vimūḍhān. It is very dangerous civilization. They are spoiling their human form of life. This human form of life is meant for different purpose: tapasya. But they have been engaged in the lives of hogs and dogs, work very hard, get some money and enjoy for sense gratification. This is not human civilization. So following their own mental concoction they automatically fall down into the dark region of existence. Adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram (SB 7.5.30). Here yesterday I went to Malad to some friend’s house. How they are living, middle-class men. In Bombay especially we see they are living very awkward position, not very comfortable life. Still, they stick to the city life, and if we call them, “Come to Hyderabad. We shall give you nice place, nice food, nice milk, nice cloth—that is your problem. We shall give you. Please come and live with us,” “No.” Therefore it is called hog civilization. Hog, they are living in a filthy place, eating stool. If you request the hog, “Please come with me. I shall give you nice place to live in. I shall give you halavā,” they’ll not come. So this is the position.