Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 6

Chapter 10 – Vibhuti Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

महर्षयः सप्त पूर्वे चत्वारो मनवस्तथा ।
मद्भावा मानसा जाता येषां लोक इमाः प्रजाः ॥

Transliteration

maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve catvāro manavastathā .
madbhāvā mānasā jātā yeṣāṃ loka imāḥ prajāḥ ॥

Meaning

The seven great sages of old, the four before them, and the Manus too, were born of My mind and endowed with My power; from them have come all the creatures in the world.

Word meanings

महर्षयः – the great sages
सप्त – seven
पूर्वे – of old, earlier
चत्वारः – the four (the Kumaras, or four Manus, per differing readings)
मनवः – the Manus
तथा – also
मद्भावाः – endowed with My nature
मानसाः – mind-born
जाताः – were born
येषाम् – from whom
लोके – in the world
इमाः – these
प्रजाः – creatures, progeny

Anvaya (word order)

पूर्वे सप्त महर्षयः, तथा चत्वारः मनवः (च) मद्भावाः मानसाः जाताः, येषां लोके इमाः प्रजाः (सन्ति) ।

Explanation

In verses 4 and 5 Krishna showed that the inner states of beings arise from Him. Now He shows that the founding figures of creation too came from Him. This is a second kind of vibhuti: the Lord’s power in the first ancestors of the world.

Maharshayah sapta: the seven great sages, the Saptarishis. The Puranas name the sages of the first age as Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishtha (some lists include Bhrigu). They are founders of knowledge and dharma, and many lineages descend from them. Purve chatvarah has two traditional readings. One takes the four to be Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara, the four Kumaras born from Brahma’s mind even before the seven sages, ideals of wisdom and renunciation. The other, followed by Shankara among others, takes purve as qualifying the seven sages and reads chatvaro manavah as ‘the four Manus’, the Savarnika Manus.

The Manus are the progenitors of humankind and founders of the social order of dharma. According to the Puranas, fourteen Manus reign in one day of Brahma, each presiding over a period called a manvantara; the present one belongs to Vaivasvata Manu. The words manushya and manava, ‘human’, derive from Manu.

Mad-bhava manasa jatah: these were born from My mental resolve, filled with My power. They arose from the mind of Brahma, and Brahma himself arose from the Lord, so Krishna calls them His mind-born sons. Yesham loka imah prajah: from them all the creatures of the world descend. Our family trees, followed far enough, all lead back to God; we are members of a single divine family.

Context

Verses 4 and 5 presented the Lord as the source of beings’ inner states. Here He presents Himself as the source of the first ancestors of creation, the seven sages, the Kumaras and the Manus. In the next verse He says that whoever truly knows this glory and yoga of His becomes united with Him in unwavering devotion.

Life lesson

Our roots all lie in one divine source; seen this way, humanity is a single family. Like the sages and Manus, we are called to carry forward the tradition of wisdom, righteousness and service.

Key terms

Saptarishi: the seven great sages: Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha
Sanakadi: the four Kumaras: Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, Sanatkumara
Manu: progenitor of humankind, ruler of a manvantara
Manasa: mind-born
Manvantara: the age presided over by one Manu