Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14, Verse 4

Chapter 14 – Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः ।
तासां ब्रह्म महद्योनिरहं बीजप्रदः पिता ॥

Transliteration

sarvayoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ .
tāsāṃ brahma mahadyonirahaṃ bījapradaḥ pitā ॥

Meaning

O son of Kunti, whatever forms are born in all the different wombs, the great Brahman (nature) is their womb, and I am the seed-giving father.

Word meanings

सर्वयोनिषु – in all wombs, in all species
कौन्तेय – O son of Kunti
मूर्तयः – forms, embodied beings
सम्भवन्ति – are born
याः – whatever
तासाम् – of them
ब्रह्म महत् – the great Brahman, primordial nature
योनिः – the womb, mother
अहम् – I
बीजप्रदः – giver of the seed
पिता – father

Anvaya (word order)

कौन्तेय, सर्वयोनिषु याः मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति, तासां महत् ब्रह्म योनिः, अहं बीजप्रदः पिता ।

Explanation

In the previous verse Krishna stated the general principle of creation; here He applies it to every living thing. 'In all wombs': gods, humans, animals, birds, insects and plants. Whatever embodied forms (murtayah) appear in any of these species share a single origin.

The substance of a body, its structure, senses and mind, all come from prakriti; therefore nature is the mother. But the consciousness that animates the body, that makes it alive and aware, is a portion of the Lord; therefore He is the 'seed-giving father'. However fertile a field may be, nothing sprouts without a seed; likewise nature cannot bring forth a single living being without the conscious seed the Lord provides.

This verse is one of the Gita's most beautiful foundations for universal kinship. If all beings have one father and one mother, then the differences between high and low, human and animal, are differences only of outer covering. The inner truth is the same in all, which is why the Gita repeatedly praises samadarshana, equal vision.

The verse also prepares the ground for what follows. Since every body is born of mother nature, every body contains nature's three gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas. Krishna will now show how these very gunas bind the imperishable soul to the body.

Context

Verse 3 described the process of creation; this verse sums it up: nature is the mother and the Lord the father of all. From the next verse Krishna begins His description of the three gunas, born of nature, which bind the embodied soul.

Life lesson

One God is the father of all beings, so to despise any creature is to dishonour our own family. True vision sees the Lord's seed in every living being.

Key terms

Murti: An embodied form
Bija-prada pita: The seed-giving father — the Supreme Lord
Yoni: Womb or species; here nature as mother