Bhagavad Gita 14.4
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 4 of 27
सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः । तासां ब्रह्म महद् योनिर् अहं बीजप्रदः पिता ॥
sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ | tāsāṃ brahma mahad yonir ahaṃ bīja-pradaḥ pitā ||
From all wombs all bodies arise — but the great Brahman is the womb and Krishna the seed-giving Father.
Word by word (3)
- sarva-yoniṣu mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
- — whatever forms (mūrtayaḥ) arise in all wombs (sarva-yoniṣu) — every species, every body-type
- tāsāṃ mahad brahma yoniḥ
- — of all those, Mahat-brahma (Great Prakṛti) is the (material) womb — the common matrix of all species
- aham bīja-pradaḥ pitā
- — I am the seed-giving Father (bīja-prada = one who bestows the seed; pitā = father)
Whatever forms are born in any womb whatsoever — in all species everywhere — the Great Brahman (Mahat-Prakṛti) is their womb and I am the seed-giving Father.
A modern analogy
Clay is the mother of every clay pot regardless of shape; the potter's hand is the father. All species share one material womb (Prakṛti) and one seed-giver (Puruṣa-consciousness). The pot thinks it is unique — but it's all the same clay, the same potter.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Whatever forms are produced, O son of Kunti, in any wombs whatsoever, the Great Brahman is their womb, I the seed-giving Father. [1]
Whatever forms are produced, O son of Kunti, in all the wombs, the great Prakriti is their womb, and I the seed-giving Father. [4]
Of the bodies which are born from all wombs, the main womb is the great Brahman, and I am the father, the giver of the seed. [9]
Whatever bodily forms are born in all wombs, of them Brahma is the mighty womb, and I the seed-imparting Sire. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Self-complacent, stubborn, wealth-proud — they perform name-only sacrifices, ostentatiously ignoring śāstric ordinance.
Sattva, rajas, tamas — three guṇas born of Prakṛti — bind the indestructible ātman in every body.
Better to die with clean hands than to win with blood on them.
You have always existed. You will always exist. There was no time before you, and there will be no time without you.
Adhibhūta is perishable nature; Adhidaiva is the Puruṣa; Adhiyajña — I Myself — am the sacrifice in this body.
Paramātmā: beginningless, nirguṇa, imperishable — dwelling in the body, yet neither acts nor is tainted.
Verse 4 of 27 · back to Chapter 14