Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 9: The Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret

Bhagavad Gita 9.12

moghāśā moghakarmāṇo moghajñānā vicetasaḥ | rākṣasīmāsurīṃ caiva prakṛtiṃ mohinīṃ śritāḥ ||

Their hopes are empty, their actions empty, their knowledge empty, and they have no discernment. They have taken on a deluding nature that is fiendish and demonic.

Modern context

The word mogha, 'empty' or 'vain', appears three times: empty hopes, empty actions, empty knowledge. It describes a life that is busy and clever but going nowhere, because it is aimed at things that cannot satisfy. Such a person may achieve a great deal and know a great deal and still feel hollow. The emptiness is not in the effort but in the direction. Pointed at what lasts, the same effort would be full.