Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7, Verse 6

Chapter 7 – Jnana Vijnana Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

एतद्योनीनि भूतानि सर्वाणीत्युपधारय ।
अहं कृत्स्नस्य जगतः प्रभवः प्रलयस्तथा ॥

Transliteration

etadyonīni bhūtāni sarvāṇītyupadhāraya .
ahaṃ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayastathā ॥

Meaning

Understand that all beings have their origin in these two natures. I am the source of the whole universe and also its dissolution.

Word meanings

एतद्योनीनि – having these (two natures) as their womb
भूतानि – beings
सर्वाणि – all
इति – thus
उपधारय – understand, hold firmly
अहम् – I
कृत्स्नस्य – of the entire
जगतः – universe
प्रभवः – origin, source
प्रलयः – dissolution
तथा – and also

Anvaya (word order)

सर्वाणि भूतानि एतद्योनीनि इति उपधारय; अहं कृत्स्नस्य जगतः प्रभवः तथा प्रलयः ।

Explanation

Having described the two natures, Krishna now explains how creation takes place. Etad-yonini bhutani — all beings arise from the union of these two natures. The lower nature provides the framework of body and mind; the higher nature infuses it with consciousness and life. If a lamp has oil and wick (matter) but no flame (consciousness), there is no light; light comes only when both are present.

But Krishna does not stop there. He says, aham kritsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas tatha — I am the origin and dissolution of the whole universe. Both natures belong to the Lord; therefore the final cause of all that arises from them is the Lord Himself. As a spider spins its web from within and then draws it back into itself — the image of the Mundaka Upanishad — so the Lord manifests creation through His power and withdraws it into Himself at dissolution.

Shankara says that the Lord, through His two natures, is the cause of the world as the omniscient Ishvara. In the language of Vedanta, the Lord is both the efficient cause of the world (its maker) and its material cause (that from which it is made) — as if the potter and the clay were one.

This understanding gives life a new meaning: everything has come from one source and will return to it. To regard any being as alien or insignificant is therefore ignorance.

Context

Verses 7.4–5 described the lower and higher natures. This verse says that all beings arise from them and that the Lord is the root cause of all. In the next verse (7.7) Krishna says there is nothing beyond Him; everything is strung on Him like beads on a thread.

Life lesson

When you look at any living being — human, animal or plant — remember that it has come from the same single source as you. This feeling reduces ego and awakens respect for nature and all creatures.

Key terms

Yoni: womb, source of origin
Prabhava: origin, coming forth
Pralaya: dissolution, merging back
Kritsna: entire, whole