FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 9.7

సర్వభూతాని కౌన్తేయ ప్రకృతిం యాన్తి మామికామ్ । కల్పక్షయే పునస్తాని కల్పాదౌ విసృజామ్యహమ్ ॥ ౭ ॥
sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya
[sarva-bhootaani kaunteya]
prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām
[prakritim yaanti maamikaam]
kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni
[kalpa-kshaye punas taani]
kalpādau visṛjāmy aham
[kalpaadau visrijaamy aham]
Word-for-word
sarva - bhūtāni — all created entities kaunteya — O son of Kuntī prakṛtim — nature yānti — enter māmikām — My kalpa - kṣaye — at the end of the millennium punaḥ — again tāni — all those kalpa - ādau — in the beginning of the millennium visṛjāmi — create aham — I .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya
sarva - bhūtāni
all created entities
kaunteya
O son of Kuntī
prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām
prakṛtim
nature
yānti
enter
māmikām
My
kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni
kalpa - kṣaye
at the end of the millennium
punaḥ
again
tāni
all those
kalpādau visṛjāmy aham
kalpa - ādau
in the beginning of the millennium
visṛjāmi
create
aham
I .
Important Words
  • prakṛtim — nature
    Prakṛti — the material energy. Note māmikām (My) qualifying it: prakṛti is Kṛṣṇa's, never independent of Him. At pralaya all beings enter māmikām prakṛtim — into His own energy, as a wave subsiding into the ocean it came from.
  • kalpa - kṣaye — at the end of the millennium
    Kalpa is a day of Brahmā (4.32 billion human years); kṣaya is its dissolution. The cosmic accountancy of Vedic time is vast — and inside this vastness Kṛṣṇa's role is the rhythmic one: dissolve, manifest, dissolve.
  • kalpa - ādau — at the beginning of the millennium
    Ādi — beginning. The pair kṣaye / ādau forms the in-breath and out-breath of cosmic time. Same beings, same prakṛti, restored to manifestation.
  • visṛjāmi — I create
    Vi + √sṛj — to send forth. Not creation from nothing, but emission from Himself. The same root gives visarga (the puff at the end of Sanskrit words); Kṛṣṇa's exhalation is the universe.
  • kaunteya — O son of Kuntī
    Arjuna's matronymic. Kṛṣṇa frequently uses it when delivering a tender intimacy — reminding Arjuna of his lineage to His own aunt Kuntī. The cosmic teaching is delivered inside a family address.
O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again.
Purport

The creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material cosmic manifestation are completely dependent on the supreme will of the Personality of Godhead. “At the end of the millennium” means at the death of Brahmā. Brahmā lives for one hundred years, and his one day is calculated at 4,300,000,000 of our earthly years. His night is of the same duration. His month consists of thirty such days and nights, and his year of twelve months. After one hundred such years, when Brahmā dies, the devastation or annihilation takes place; this means that the energy manifested by the Supreme Lord is again wound up in Himself. Then again, when there is a need to manifest the cosmic world, it is done by His will. Bahu syām: “Although I am one, I shall become many.” This is the Vedic aphorism ( Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.3). He expands Himself in this material energy, and the whole cosmic manifestation again takes place.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
7. O son of Kuntī, all things will enter My prakṛti at the time of destruction. At the time of creation, again I create everything.
Commentary

“I understand that all these things which can presently be seen are situated in You, but at the time of destruction where will they go?” This verse answers. All these things will merge into My energy called prakṛti composed of the three guṇas. At the end of the period of destruction, at the time of creation, (kalpa-kṣaye), I will again create everything in detail (viśeṣeṇa sṛjāmi).

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
7. O son of Kuntī, all things will enter My prakṛti at the time of destruction. At the time of creation, again I create everything.
Commentary

It has just been stated that the maintenance of all beings takes place by the will of the Lord alone. Now the Lord speaks about creation and destruction of all entities. O son of Kuntī, at the time of Brahmā’s death, all beings enter My prakṛti by My will alone. They merge in Me, who am the cause of prakṛti (māmikām). Again at the time of creation, I create them with all varieties by My will alone. This is expressed by the śruti: bahu syām: may I become many. (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.6).

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

Krsna in Texts 4 and 5 explained that everything is resting in Him, meaning that everything is been maintained by Him. Now Krsna is going to explain how He creates and destroys everything. In this verse and next, Krsna explains this. But one may question: "Yes everything is within You but what happens during the devastation? It is the same truth that everything is within You? Krsna answers:

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

COMMON THEME: Inconceivable potency” in terms of creation and destruction – Now Krishna after

explaining His role in maintenance, explains His relationships with creation and destruction

Under the will of the Supreme Lord, all the material manifestations are automatically created and annihilated again and again
Focus of Learning

(a) Krishna gives an analogy for yogam-aisvaram – Analogy: Sky and the wind

Sky is the biggest manifestation to conceive. In that sky, wind is the biggest to conceive
Wind is great and influences all the movements. But wind is never beyond sky, it is always subordinate to the sky
All wonderful cosmic manifestations (compared here to the movements of the wind) exist by the will of the Lord (Lord compared to sky) – Still the Lord is aloof and unaffected just like the sky is aloof and not affected by movements of wind

(b) Other examples of Lord’s supreme will as the Ultimate control over wonderful material

manifestations

e.g. Taittiriya Upanisad – Wind blowing under the will of Supreme Lord
e.g. Brahma Samhita 5.52 / Brhad Aranyaka Upanisad – Sun, moon and other planets moving under the Supreme order of the Lord

(a) “Yogam-aisvaram” – This term describes the inconceivable mystic opulences of the Lord i.e.

Everything that is created does not rest in Me. It implies:

Implies that although everything rests in Him as per 9.4, still “He is aloof” and not directly concerned with maintenance etc.
Not like ATLAS – tired of holding globe

(b) How “He is aloof” – Examples of “inconceivable opulences”

e.g. Planetary systems floating in space, and space is the energy of the Lord. But He is different from space
e.g. His potencies are exemplified by His determination – No difference between His mind and Himself, because He is Absolute Spirit. All activities are performed just by His willing.
Ref. Nirukti dictionary: ‘Yujyate...’ – Inconceivable pastimes are performed by His energy

(c) Refutes the argument: “Since God has expanded in everything, then everything we worship is

God”

Refutation: Krishna is everywhere, everything is in Him, but still He is aloof

LINK BETWEEN TEXTS 9.8 & 9.9 Although the Lord creates and annihilates but all this work cannot bind

Him. It implies that the Lord is not directly responsible for all good and evil done in this world.

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
9.7 Kaunteya, O son of Kunti; sarva-bhutani, all the beings-all the beings which, like wind abiding in space, abide thus in Me during their period of existence; yanti, go back; kalpa-ksaye, at the end of a cycle, at the time of dissolution; mamikam prakrtim, to My Prakrti which consists of the three gunas (alities; see 7.13) and is (called My) lower Nature. Punah, again; aham, I; visrjami, project forth, create; tani, them, the beings, as before [As before: as in previous cycles of creation.]; kalpadau, at the beginning of a cycle, at the time of creation.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
9.7 All the mobile and immobile entities enter into My Prakrti at the end of a cycle, namely at the end of Brahma's life in accordance with My will. This Prakrti, constituting My body, is designated by the term Tamas, as it cannot be differentiated into name and form. I again send forth the very same beings at the beginning of a cycle. Manu declares accordingly: 'This universe became Tamas ৷৷. by an act of will. He produced it out of His body' (Manu, 1.5.8). The Srutis also declare thus: 'He whose body is Avyakta' (Su. U., 7); 'The Avyakta merges into Aksara, the Aksara into Tamas' (Ibid., 2); and also 'There was Tamas; the intelligence was concealed by Tamas' (Tai. Br., 1.8.9).
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
9.7 Sarva- etc. Nature : unmanifest form.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
9.7 All beings, O Arjuna, go into My Nature at the end of a Kalpa; I send them forth again at the beginning of (the next) Kalpa.
Commentary

9.7 सर्वभूतानि all beings? कौन्तेय O Kaunteya? प्रकृतिम् to Nature? यान्ति go? मामिकाम् My? कल्पक्षये at the end of the Kalpa? पुनः again? तानि them? कल्पादौ at the beginning of the Kalpa? विसृजामि send forth? अहम् I.Commentary Prakriti The inferior one or the lower Nature composed of the three alities? Sattva? Rajas and Tamas.Just as the grass grows from the earth and dries up in the earth? just as the ripples and waves rise from the ocean and disappear in the ocean itself? just as the dreams proceed from the mind and melt away in the mind itself when the dreamer comes back to the waking state? so also the beings which arise from Nature merge into it during dissolution or Pralaya.Pralaya is the period of dissolution. MahaUtpatti is the time of creation. (Cf.VIII.18?19)

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
9.7 O son Kunti, all the beings go back at the end of a cycle to My Prakrti. I project them forth again at the beginning of a cycle.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
9.7 All beings, O Arjuna, return at the close of every cosmic cycle into the realm of Nature, which is a part of Me, and at the beginning of the next I send them forth again.
Related values & verses
Related values
Daya (Compassion / Mercy)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Nyaya (Justice / Righteous Judgment)Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)
Related verses
BG 8.18 BG 8.19 BG 14.2 SB 3.11.22 SB 12.4.1 SB 3.10.13 CC Madhya 20.265 CC Ādi 5.66 CC Madhya 20.280 Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.2Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.7
Study Q&A referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
At the end of the millennium all beings enter My nature; at the beginning of the next, again I send them forth.
Practical Applications
  • Hold cosmic cycles as the backdrop of your transient concerns.
  • Recognize that all comings and goings are Kṛṣṇa's breathing in and out.
  • Trust the rhythm.
Reflection Questions
  • What concern of mine shrinks against this cosmic rhythm?
  • How might I trust the larger rhythm more?
Analogy

Think of the great breath of a sleeping yogī — out goes the air, in comes the air, in a rhythm older than thought. The cosmos breathes the same way in Kṛṣṇa. Out-breath is sṛṣṭi, in-breath is pralaya; kalpas roll in the cycle, and beings ride the breath. The yogī is not disturbed by His breathing; neither is Kṛṣṇa disturbed by the universe.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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