Chapter 9 · Shloka 7— The Yoga of Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret

sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya prakṛitiṁ yānti māmikām kalpa-kṣhaye punas tāni kalpādau visṛijāmyaham

sarva-bhūtāni

— all living beings

kaunteya

— Arjun, the son of Kunti

prakṛitim

— primordial material energy

yānti

— merge

māmikām

— my

kalpa-kṣhaye

— at the end of a kalpa

punaḥ

— again

tāni

— them

kalpa-ādau

— at the beginning of a kalpa

visṛijāmi

— manifest

aham

— I

"Sarva-bhutani kaunteya prakrtim yanti mamikam, kalpa-ksaye punas tani kalpadau visrjamy aham." — All beings, O son of Kunti, merge into My nature (prakriti) at the end of a cosmic cycle; and at the beginning of a cycle, I send them forth again. Krishna describes His role in the great cosmic rhythm of dissolution and creation (echoing 8.18–19, now from the perspective of the Divine as the source). 'Sarva-bhutani prakrtim yanti mamikam' — at the end of a cosmic cycle (kalpa-ksaye), all beings merge into 'mamikam prakritim,' My nature — they withdraw back into the Divine's own creative power, returning to an unmanifest, potential state. 'Kalpadau punah tani visrjami aham' — and at the beginning of the next cycle (kalpadau), I send them forth (visrjami) again, projecting the manifest universe once more from My nature. Shankaracharya explains that this describes the periodic dissolution (pralaya) and re-creation (srsti) of the cosmos. The entire universe of beings rhythmically withdraws into the Divine's unmanifest nature at the cosmic dissolution and is projected forth again at the next creation. Krishna is the source and ground of this entire rhythm — beings come from Him and return to Him, in vast repeating cycles. This verse establishes the Divine as the ultimate source and resting-place of all beings across the cosmic cycles. Everything emerges from the Divine's own nature and returns to it. The great breathing of the cosmos (8.18) is here revealed as the Divine's own activity: the Lord projects all beings forth and withdraws them back, cycle after cycle. Nothing is ever truly lost — at dissolution, beings rest in their source; at creation, they emerge again. The Divine holds the whole rhythm.

Krishna reveals himself as the source and resting-place of all beings across vast cosmic cycles: everything emerges from the Divine's nature and returns to it, over and over. The quietly comforting principle here: nothing is ever truly lost — at dissolution, beings rest in their source; at the next creation, they emerge again. This reframes our deepest fear, the fear of annihilation. Whatever your beliefs, there's something steadying in the image: existence isn't a one-way slide into nothingness but a rhythm of emergence and return, held by something that endures through all of it. Even modern physics hints at conservation — energy isn't destroyed, only transformed. The deeper invitation is to loosen the terror of ending. What returns to its source isn't annihilated; it rests, held by the ground from which it came. You came from something vast; you return to something vast. The rhythm holds you, even in dissolution.

Krishna reveals himself as the source and resting-place of all beings across vast cosmic cycles: everything emerges from the Divine's nature and returns to it, over and over. The quietly comforting principle: nothing is ever truly lost — at dissolution, beings rest in their source; at the next creation, they emerge again. This reframes our deepest fear, the fear of annihilation. Whatever you believe, there's something steadying in the image: existence isn't a one-way slide into nothingness but a rhythm of emergence and return, held by something that endures through all of it. Even physics hints at this — energy isn't destroyed, only transformed. The deeper invitation is to loosen the terror of ending. What returns to its source isn't annihilated — it rests, held by the ground it came from. You came from something vast; you return to something vast. The rhythm holds you, even in dissolution. That's a different relationship with endings entirely.

Krishna explains how the whole universe works in great cycles, with Him as the source! At the end of a huge cosmic cycle, all beings gently return into God's nature to rest, like everything going home. Then, when a new cycle begins, God lovingly sends everything out again to live and grow! It's like how a tree's leaves fall and rest in winter, then new leaves grow in spring — nothing is ever truly lost! Everything came from God and returns to God, safe and held. So even endings aren't really scary — they're just going home to rest before beginning again!