In plain words
They say the universe is without truth, without foundation, without a Lord, born merely of mutual union and caused by desire—what else?
Word for word
They say the world [is] untrue, without foundation, without a Lord, arisen from one another; what else? [It is] caused by desire.
असत्यमप्रतिष्ठं ते जगदाहुरनीश्वरम्अपरस्परसम्भूतं किमन्यत् कामहैतुकम्
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
किञ्च —
असत्यं यथा वयम् अनृतप्रायाः तथा इदं जगत् सर्वम् असत्यम् , अप्रतिष्ठं च न अस्य धर्माधर्मौ प्रतिष्ठा अतः अप्रतिष्ठं च, इति ते आसुराः जनाः जगत् आहुः, अनीश्वरम् न च धर्माधर्मसव्यपेक्षकः अस्य शासिता ईश्वरः विद्यते इति अतः अनीश्वरं जगत् आहुः । किञ्च, अपरस्परसम्भूतं कामप्रयुक्तयोः स्त्रीपुरुषयोः अन्योन्यसंयोगात् जगत् सर्वं सम्भूतम् । किमन्यत् कामहैतुकं कामहेतुकमेव कामहैतुकम् । किमन्यत् जगतः कारणम् ? न किञ्चित् अदृष्टं धर्माधर्मादि कारणान्तरं विद्यते जगतः ‘काम एव प्राणिनां कारणम्’ इति लोकायतिकदृष्टिः इयम् ॥ ८ ॥
In plain words
And there is more —
'Untrue' -- just the way most of what we casually say isn't quite true, they say the whole world is like that: unreal. 'Groundless,' too -- because there's no foundation of right and wrong holding it up, they say it has no foundation at all. 'Lordless' -- because no ruler exists who governs it with any regard for right and wrong, they call the world lordless. And more: they say it arose from nothing but mutual attraction -- a man and a woman coming together, driven by desire, and that is the whole world, born. Ask them what else could be caused by desire, and the answer is: everything, simply, and nothing more. Ask what else could cause the world, and they say: no, there's no invisible cause like merit or demerit at work here -- 'desire alone causes living beings' -- that is the materialist's creed.
Close to the Sanskrit
And what more —
'Untrue' -- just as we are mostly untruthful [in speech], so too this entire world is untrue; and 'without foundation' -- there is no foundation of it consisting of merit and demerit, therefore it is 'without foundation' too -- thus those demonic people declare of the world. 'Without a Lord' -- there exists no ruler of it who has regard for merit and demerit, therefore they declare the world 'lordless.' Moreover, [they say the world is] 'mutually arisen' -- the entire world has arisen from the mutual union of woman and man impelled by desire. What else is 'caused by desire'? It is precisely caused by desire alone -- that is 'kama-haituka.' What else is the cause of the world? No other unseen cause such as merit or demerit of the world exists -- 'desire alone is the cause of living beings' -- this is the view of the materialists.