Bhagavad Gita 7.6
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 6 of 30
एतद्योनीनि भूतानि सर्वाणीत्युपधारय | अहं कृत्स्नस्य जगतः प्रभवः प्रलयस्तथा ||६||
etad yonīni bhūtāni sarvāṇīty upadhāraya | ahaṃ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā || 6 ||
All beings arise from these two natures as their womb — and I am the origin and dissolution of the entire universe.
Word by word (3)
- etad-yonīni bhūtāni sarvāṇi iti upadhāraya
- — know that all beings have these (two natures) as their womb/source · etad = these (referring to the aparā and parā prakṛti of V4-5). yonīni = having as womb/source (yoni = womb, source, origin — the matrix from which something is born; -ini suffix = having this as their yoni). bhūtāni sarvāṇi = all beings (bhūta = being, existing entity; sarvāṇi = all). iti = thus. upadhāraya = know, understand, comprehend firmly (upa + √dhṛ — 'hold up,' to grasp firmly with understanding — a strong imperative). The cosmological completion of V4-5: having disclosed aparā (V4) and parā (V5), Krishna now declares the cosmological consequence — ALL beings (sarvāṇi bhūtāni) have these two natures as their yoni (womb/source). Every being in the universe — human, animal, plant, divine — is born from the aparā-parā matrix.
- ahaṃ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā
- — I am the origin and also the dissolution of the entire universe · aham = I (emphatic — this is Krishna's direct self-declaration). kṛtsnasya = of the entire (kṛtsna = complete, whole, without remainder — stronger than sarva). jagataḥ = of the universe (jagat = the world, literally 'that which moves'). prabhavaḥ = origin, arising, coming forth (pra + √bhū = to arise from, to come forth; prabhava = the source of arising). pralayas = dissolution, return, merging back (pra + √lī = to merge, to dissolve; pralaya = the dissolution at the end of a cosmic cycle). tathā = also, likewise. The most comprehensive claim: I (aham) am BOTH the prabhava (origin, where everything comes FROM) AND the pralaya (dissolution, where everything returns TO) of the ENTIRE (kṛtsna) universe. Krishna is not just the creator or sustainer but the complete cosmic cycle — beginning, middle, end.
- yoni / prabhava / pralaya (the complete cosmological claim)
- — womb-source, origin, dissolution — Krishna as the complete cosmic arc · V6 delivers the cosmological synthesis of V4-5: the two natures (aparā-parā) are the yoni (womb) of all beings, and Krishna is BOTH prabhava (source/origin) and pralaya (dissolution) of the whole. This means Krishna is not merely one element in the cosmic process — he is its complete arc. Everything emerges FROM him, exists IN him (V7's thread), and returns TO him. This is the theological equivalent of: the universe is not separate from the Divine; the Divine is its complete context — origin, ground, and destination. V6 thus closes the V4-6 cosmological unit and prepares for V7's most concentrated statement: 'beyond Me there is nothing at all.'
Know that all beings arise from these two natures as their womb. I am the origin of the whole universe, and its dissolution as well.
A modern analogy
A story has characters, plot, and setting (the aparā-parā matrix of the story world). But the author is both the source of everything in the story AND the one to whom everything in the story ultimately returns when the book is closed. The Krishna of this verse is the Author of the cosmic story — not a character in it, but the one who gives it origin and in whom it dissolves.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT say the universe is identical to Krishna or that distinctions disappear. Krishna is prabhava AND pralaya — origin AND dissolution — which means he is the context of the universe, not merely a component. The universe has real existence; it just has no independent existence apart from Krishna.
Take with you
- This verse completes the cosmological unit that runs from the eightfold lower nature through the conscious higher nature: aparā (material-mental field) + parā (conscious life-principle) = the yoni of all beings; and both are within Krishna who is the complete cosmic arc. This is the knowledge-framework for understanding all existence.
- The term 'pralaya' (dissolution) is not to be feared — it is return to the source. This verse's prabhava-pralaya framing dissolves the fear of endings: everything that arises from Krishna returns to Krishna. Dissolution is homecoming.
- In daily life: every birth (prabhava) and every death or ending (pralaya) in your experience — the beginning and end of a day, a relationship, a project — is a small-scale echo of this teaching. All arising comes from the source; all dissolution returns to it.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Know that these two (prakṛtis) are the womb of all beings. I am the origin and dissolution of the entire universe. [1]
Know that these (two Prakritis) are the womb of all beings, I am the origin and dissolution of the whole universe. [4]
Know that these two are the womb of all beings; I am the origin and dissolution of the whole universe. [5]
Understand that these two are the womb of all beings. I am the origin and end of the whole universe. [6]
Whatsoever things be born, O Bharata! of any birth, know thou that I am the Father and the Mother of them, and the Womb. I am the binding-thread through all. [7]
Know that these two are the womb of all beings. Of the whole universe I am the origin and dissolution. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Know My higher nature — the life-element (jīva-bhūtā) distinct from the lower — by which this world is sustained.
Beyond Me there is nothing whatsoever — all this is strung in Me, as gems upon a thread.
At the end of each cosmic age, all beings return to My prakriti — at the next dawn, I send them forth again.
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
Two puruṣas: kṣara (all mutable beings) and akṣara (kūṭastha, immutable ground) — both about to be transcended.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Verse 6 of 30 · back to Chapter 7