16.11: Cry, Vie, Lie, Die, Fie – Tie

The Bhagavad-gita (16.7-20) describes the mentality of the godless materialists who ruin themselves and those around them by their inordinate infatuation with temporary things. Their tragic life-story can be summarized as cry, vie, lie, die, fie.

Cry: Being enslaved by their innumerable and insatiable self-centered desires, they live in a state of perpetual inner dissatisfaction, forever craving, worrying and crying for more. (16.11-12)

Lie: Their uncontrollable and irresistible desires drag them into ignoble and immoral actions (16.12)

Vie: Their moral blindness make them ruthlessly competitive and abusive against whoever comes in their way, and they delight in scheming violence and even murder (16.13-15).

Die: All their materialistic scheming is abruptly terminated when they run full speed into the dead end of death. (16.11)

Fie: Having let their untrammeled materialism torpedo their spiritual consciousness and devotional opportunity, they find themselves in post-mortem arenas with little, if any, spiritual or even material prospects.(16.16)

Tie: The Gita (16.24) concludes the chapter by urging us to tie our intelligence to scriptural directions and by the strength of that upward connection protect ourselves from being dragged down by our own self-defeating materialistic obsessions.