Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 7

Chapter 9 – Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम् ।
कल्पक्षये पुनस्तानि कल्पादौ विसृजाम्यहम् ॥

Transliteration

sarvabhūtāni kaunteya prakṛtiṃ yānti māmikām .
kalpakṣaye punastāni kalpādau visṛjāmyaham ॥

Meaning

O son of Kunti, at the end of a cosmic cycle all beings return into My prakriti; at the beginning of the next cycle I send them forth again.

Word meanings

सर्वभूतानि – all beings
कौन्तेय – O son of Kunti
प्रकृतिम् – into prakriti, primal nature
यान्ति – go, return
मामिकाम् – My own
कल्पक्षये – at the end of a kalpa
पुनः – again
तानि – them
कल्पादौ – at the start of a kalpa
विसृजामि – I send forth
अहम् – I

Anvaya (word order)

कौन्तेय, कल्पक्षये सर्वभूतानि मामिकां प्रकृतिं यान्ति; कल्पादौ पुनः तानि अहं विसृजामि ।

Explanation

So far Krishna has explained how beings rest in Him in terms of space. Now He explains it in terms of time: the cycle of creation and dissolution. In Indian thought creation is not a single event but a beginningless rhythm. A day of Brahma is called a kalpa; at its close comes dissolution, and at the dawn of the next kalpa creation begins again, as chapter 8 (verses 17 to 19) also described.

At dissolution, ‘all beings go into My prakriti’. Note the word mamikam, ‘My own’: prakriti is not an independent power competing with God; it belongs to Him. As a tree withdraws into its seed and the seed lies dormant in the earth, so the whole creation rests in subtle causal form within the Lord’s nature. Even the karmic impressions of beings are not destroyed; they are preserved in seed form.

‘At the beginning of the kalpa I send them forth again’, each according to its past karma. Ramanuja explains that in dissolution beings exist in an extremely subtle state, without name and form, within prakriti which is the Lord’s body; at creation they again take on names and forms.

The verse makes clear that creation, preservation and dissolution all rest on one Supreme. Whatever comes and goes is changing; what underlies the coming and going is eternal. The wise seeker therefore fixes the mind not on the passing but on its everlasting ground.

Context

Verse 6 showed beings resting in the Lord in terms of space; this verse shows the same in terms of time, as dissolution and re-creation. In the next verse Krishna explains how, controlling His own prakriti, He brings forth this multitude of beings again and again.

Life lesson

Everything in the world arrives and departs; only God remains as the lasting ground. Do not be crushed when changing things change, but anchor your trust and love in what never passes.

Key terms

Kalpa: a day of Brahma, one cosmic cycle
Kalpakshaya: end of a cycle, cosmic dissolution
Mamika prakriti: the Lord’s own nature, the material cause of the world
Visarga: sending forth, creation