TEXT 6
यथाकाशस्थितो नित्यं वायुः सर्वत्रगो महान् ।
तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि मत्स्थानीत्युपधारय ।। 6 ।।
yathākāśa-sthito nityaṁ
vāyuḥ sarvatra-go mahān
tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni
mat-sthānīty upadhāraya
yathā – just as; ākāśa-sthitaḥ – situated in the sky; nityam – always; vāyuḥ – the wind; sarvatra-gaḥ – blowing everywhere; mahān – great; tathā – similarly; sarvāṇi bhūtāni – all created beings; mat-sthāni – situated in Me; iti – thus; upadhāraya – try to understand.
Understand that as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, all created beings rest in Me.
For the ordinary person it is almost inconceivable how the huge material creation is resting in Him. But the Lord is giving an example which may help us to understand. The sky may be the biggest manifestation we can conceive. And in that sky the wind or air is the biggest manifestation in the cosmic world. The movement of the air influences the movements of everything. But although the wind is great, it is still situated within the sky; the wind is not beyond the sky.
Similarly, all the wonderful cosmic manifestations are existing by the supreme will of God, and all of them are subordinate to that supreme will. As we generally say, not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus everything is moving under His will: by His will everything is being created, everything is being maintained, and everything is being annihilated. Still He is aloof from everything, as the sky is always aloof from the activities of the wind.
In the Upaniṣads it is stated, yad-bhīṣā vātaḥ pavate: “It is out of the fear of the Supreme Lord that the wind is blowing.” (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.8.1) In the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (3.8.9) it is stated, etasya vā akṣarasya praśāsane gārgi sūrya-candramasau vidhṛtau tiṣṭhata etasya vā akṣarasya praśāsane gārgi dyāv-āpṛthivyau vidhṛtau tiṣṭhataḥ. “By the supreme order, under the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the moon, the sun, and the other great planets are moving.” In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.52) also it is stated,
yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ
rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ
yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
This is a description of the movement of the sun. It is said that the sun is considered to be one of the eyes of the Supreme Lord and that it has immense potency to diffuse heat and light. Still it is moving in its prescribed orbit by the order and the supreme will of Govinda. So, from the Vedic literature we can find evidence that this material manifestation, which appears to us to be very wonderful and great, is under the complete control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This will be further explained in the later verses of this chapter.
TEXT 7
सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम् ।
कल्पक्षये पुनस्तानि कल्पादौ विसृजाम्यहम् ।। 7 ।।
sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya
prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām
kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni
kalpādau visṛjāmy aham
sarva-bhūtāni – all created entities; kaunteya – O son of Kuntī; prakṛtim – nature; yānti – enter; māmikām – My; kalpa-kṣaye – at the end of the millennium; punaḥ – again; tāni – all those; kalpa-ādau – in the beginning of the millennium; visṛjāmi – create; aham – I.
O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again.
The creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material cosmic manifestation are completely dependent on the supreme will of the Personality of Godhead. “At the end of the millennium” means at the death of Brahmā. Brahmā lives for one hundred years, and his one day is calculated at 4,300,000,000 of our earthly years.
His night is of the same duration. His month consists of thirty such days and nights, and his year of twelve months. After one hundred such years, when Brahmā dies, the devastation or annihilation takes place; this means that the energy manifested by the Supreme Lord is again wound up in Himself. Then again, when there is a need to manifest the cosmic world, it is done by His will. Bahu syām: “Although I am one, I shall become many.” This is the Vedic aphorism (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.3). He expands Himself in this material energy, and the whole cosmic manifestation again takes place.
TEXT 8
प्रकृतिं स्वामवष्टभ्य विसृजामि पुनः पुनः ।
भूतग्राममिमं कृत्स्नमवशं प्रकृतेर्वशात् ।। 8 ।।
prakṛtiṁ svām avaṣṭabhya
visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ
bhūta-grāmam imaṁ kṛtsnam
avaśaṁ prakṛter vaśāt
prakṛtim – the material nature; svām – of My personal Self; avaṣṭabhya – entering into; visṛjāmi – I create; punaḥ punaḥ – again and again; bhūta-grāmam – all the cosmic manifestations; imam – these; kṛtsnam – in total; avaśam – automatically; prakṛteḥ – of the force of nature; vaśāt – under obligation.
The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end.
This material world is the manifestation of the inferior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This has already been explained several times. At the creation, the material energy is let loose as the mahat-tattva, into which the Lord as His first puruṣa incarnation, Mahā-viṣṇu, enters. He lies within the Causal Ocean and breathes out innumerable universes, and into each universe the Lord again enters as Garbhodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu. Each universe is in that way created. He still further manifests Himself as Kṣīrodaka-śāyī Viṣṇu, and that Viṣṇu enters into everything – even into the minute atom. This fact is explained here. He enters into everything.
Now, as far as the living entities are concerned, they are impregnated into this material nature, and as a result of their past deeds they take different positions. Thus the activities of this material world begin. The activities of the different species of living beings are begun from the very moment of the creation. It is not that all is evolved. The different species of life are created immediately along with the universe. Men, animals, beasts, birds – everything is simultaneously created, because whatever desires the living entities had at the last annihilation are again manifested. It is clearly indicated here by the word avaśam that the living entities have nothing to do with this process. The state of being in their past life in the past creation is simply manifested again, and all this is done simply by His will. This is the inconceivable potency of the Supreme Personality of God. And after creating different species of life, He has no connection with them. The creation takes place to accommodate the inclinations of the various living entities, and so the Lord does not become involved with it.
TEXT 9
न च मां तानि कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनंजय ।
उदासीनवदासीनमसक्तं तेषु कर्मसु ।। 9 ।।
na ca māṁ tāni karmāṇi
nibadhnanti dhanañ-jaya
udāsīna-vad āsīnam
asaktaṁ teṣu karmasu
na – never; ca – also; mām – Me; tāni – all those; karmāṇi – activities; nibadhnanti – bind; dhanam-jaya – O conqueror of riches; udāsīna-vat – as neutral; āsīnam – situated; asaktam – without attraction; teṣu – for those; karmasu – activities.
O Dhanañjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached from all these material activities, seated as though neutral.
One should not think, in this connection, that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no engagement. In His spiritual world He is always engaged. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.6) it is stated, ātmārāmasya tasyāsti prakṛtyā na samāgamaḥ: “He is always involved in His eternal, blissful, spiritual activities, but He has nothing to do with these material activities.” Material activities are being carried on by His different potencies. The Lord is always neutral in the material activities of the created world. This neutrality is mentioned here with the word udāsīna-vat. Although He has control over every minute detail of material activities, He is sitting as if neutral. The example can be given of a high-court judge sitting on his bench.
By his order so many things are happening – someone is being hanged, someone is being put into jail, someone is awarded a huge amount of wealth – but still he is neutral. He has nothing to do with all that gain and loss. Similarly, the Lord is always neutral, although He has His hand in every sphere of activity. In the Vedānta-sūtra (2.1.34) it is stated, vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye na: He is not situated in the dualities of this material world. He is transcendental to these dualities. Nor is He attached to the creation and annihilation of this material world. The living entities take their different forms in the various species of life according to their past deeds, and the Lord doesn’t interfere with them.
TEXT 10
मयाध्यक्षेण प्रकृतिः सूयते सचराचरम् ।
हेतुनानेन कौन्तेय जगद्विपरिवर्तते ।। 10 ।।
mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ
sūyate sa-carācaram
hetunānena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
mayā – by Me; adhyakṣeṇa – by superintendence; prakṛtiḥ – material nature; sūyate – manifests; sa – both; cara-acaram – the moving and the nonmoving; hetunā – for the reason; anena – this; kaunteya – O son of Kuntī; jagat – the cosmic manifestation; viparivartate – is working.
This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.
It is clearly stated here that the Supreme Lord, although aloof from all the activities of the material world, remains the supreme director. The Supreme Lord is the supreme will and the background of this material manifestation, but the management is being conducted by material nature. Kṛṣṇa also states in Bhagavad-gītā that of all the living entities in different forms and species, “I am the father.” The father gives seeds to the womb of the mother for the child, and similarly the Supreme Lord by His mere
