Bhagavad Gita 8.18
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 18 of 28
अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे | रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके ||१८||
avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavanty ahar-āgame | rātry-āgame pralīyante tatraivāvyakta-saṃjñake || 18 ||
At Brahma's dawn, all beings emerge from the unmanifest; at his dusk, they merge back into that same unmanifest.
Word by word (3)
- avyaktāt vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavanty ahar-āgame
- — From the unmanifest, all manifested (beings) emerge at the approach of day · avyaktāt = from the unmanifest (avyakta = un-manifest, invisible, not-appeared; from a = not + vi + √añj = to appear; avyakta = that which has not yet appeared, the unmanifested ground; ablative — 'from the unmanifest'). vyaktayaḥ = the manifested beings (vyakta = manifested, appeared, visible; plural — all the manifested entities). sarvāḥ = all. prabhavanty = they come forth (pra + √bhū = to come forth, to arise — prabhavanty = they arise, emerge). ahar-āgame = at the approach/arrival of day (ahar = day; āgama = coming, arrival — ahar-āgame = when day arrives, at the dawn of Brahma's Day). The emergence: from the avyakta (unmanifest ground), ALL vyaktayaḥ (manifested beings) emerge when Brahma's Day arrives. This is the Vedāntic cosmogony: creation is not ex nihilo but the manifestation (vyakta) of what was unmanifest (avyakta). At the cosmic dawn, the dormant potential of all beings in the avyakta becomes actual.
- rātry-āgame pralīyante tatra eva avyakta-saṃjñake
- — At the approach of night they dissolve back into that same — called the unmanifest · rātry-āgame = at the approach/arrival of night (rātri = night; āgama = coming — rātry-āgame = at the coming of night, when Brahma's Night arrives). pralīyante = they dissolve (pra + √lī = to dissolve, melt away — pralīyante = they completely dissolve; pralaya = dissolution, the great dissolution). tatra = there, into that (into the same ground from which they emerged). eva = very, indeed (emphatic — the same avyakta from which they emerged). avyakta-saṃjñake = called/known as the unmanifest (avyakta = unmanifest; saṃjñā = designation, name — saṃjñaka = known as; avyakta-saṃjñake = what is called the unmanifest). The complete cycle: at cosmic dawn (ahar-āgame), all beings emerge from the avyakta; at cosmic dusk (rātry-āgame), all beings dissolve back into the avyakta. The avyakta here is Brahmā's own unmanifest ground — not the akṣara Brahman of V3 (which is beyond even this avyakta, as V20 will clarify) but the 'lower' unmanifest that is the potential-ground of Brahma's creation cycle.
- avyakta as the cycle's ground — the distinction between this avyakta and V20's eternal avyakta
- — V18's avyakta is the unmanifest potential of the cosmic cycle — distinct from V20's eternal Unmanifest beyond the cycle · V18 introduces a crucial distinction that V20 will complete: there are two avyaktas (unmanifests) in the Gita's cosmology. V18's avyakta is the unmanifest state within Brahma's cycle — it is the 'night-state' when all beings are dissolved but still potentially present, waiting to re-emerge at the next dawn. This avyakta is sometimes called prakṛti in Sāṃkhya philosophy — the unmanifest nature-ground from which the manifest world emerges. But V20 will introduce 'another unmanifest' (anya avyakta) — one that is beyond even this avyakta, that is eternal (sanātana) and does not dissolve even when all beings dissolve. This eternal avyakta is the akṣara Brahman of V3 — the Supreme which transcends the entire avyakta-vyakta cycle. V18's avyakta is WITHIN the cycle; V20's avyakta is BEYOND it. Understanding this distinction is essential for Ch.8's liberation teaching.
At the coming of day, all beings emerge from the unmanifest; at the coming of night, they dissolve back into that same unmanifest.
A modern analogy
Earth has seasonal cycles: spring (day) when seeds germinate and life emerges; winter (night) when life retreats into dormancy. This verse describes Brahma's cosmic Day-Night as the universe-scale version of this: the cosmos 'germinates' (all beings emerge) at cosmic dawn and goes 'dormant' (all beings dissolve) at cosmic dusk. The seed-state in winter is this verse's avyakta — the potential for the next emergence, but not yet active.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's avyakta (unmanifest) is NOT the same as the eternal Unmanifest beyond it — the one that is not dissolved when all beings dissolve, Krishna's supreme abode. This verse's avyakta is the unmanifest WITHIN Brahma's cycle — the state of all beings between cosmic nights and days (like seeds in winter). The next verses will describe a DIFFERENT eternal avyakta that is beyond even this cycling — the akṣara Brahman that does not dissolve. This distinction is crucial for understanding the chapter.
Take with you
- This verse teaches the impermanence of all manifested existence at the deepest level. Even the 'seeds' of karma that carry individual beings through rebirths — their very potential — is dissolved at cosmic night into the avyakta. This is the most radical impermanence teaching: not just that individual things change, but that even the cosmic ground of manifestation cycles into dissolution. Only the eternal Unmanifest, the akṣara that is never destroyed even when all beings perish, is not dissolved.
- This verse, together with the next, teaches that the multitude of beings (bhūta-grāma) returns involuntarily: the next verse will say the multitude is reborn and dissolves 'without their will' (avasaḥ). This cosmic involuntariness makes liberation — attaining Me, from which there is no return — even more precious: it is the only escape from a process that operates automatically, without the individual's consent.
- This verse's ahar-āgame (at dawn's approach) + rātry-āgame (at night's approach) is a template for meditation: awareness of the great cycles of manifestation and dissolution that operate at every scale, from cosmic to personal. What emerges and dissolves in your own consciousness, day by day? Applied to inner life: at the dawn of attention (meditation), what emerges from your unmanifest depths? At sleep, what dissolves back?
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
At the approach of (Brahma's) day, all manifestations proceed from the unmanifested state; at the approach of night, they merge verily into that alone, which is called the unmanifested. [4]
From the Unmanifested, all the manifested stream forth at the coming of day; at the coming of night they dissolve even into that, called the Unmanifested. [5]
At the coming of the day of Brahma all things go forth from the unmanifest; at the coming of the night they dissolve in that which is called the unmanifest. [6]
When that vast Dawn doth break, th' Invisible Is brought anew into the Visible; When that deep Night doth darken, all which is Fades back again to Him Who sent it forth. [7]
On the advent of day, all perceptible things are produced from the unperceived; and on the advent of night they merge in that same thing, called the unperceived. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Those who know Brahma's Day as a thousand yugas and his Night as a thousand yugas — they know day and night truly.
Beyond that unmanifest is another Unmanifest — eternal, not dissolved when all beings dissolve: My supreme abode.
At the end of each cosmic age, all beings return to My prakriti — at the next dawn, I send them forth again.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Verse 18 of 28 · back to Chapter 8