Etad yonini bhutani sarvanity upadharaya, aham kritsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas tatha
Know that all created beings have their origin in these two natures of Mine. I am the source of the entire universe and into Me it merges at the end. God is the ultimate origin and dissolution of all existence — both the material and spiritual forces that constitute the cosmos flow from Him.
- •God is the source and end of all existence
- •Both matter and consciousness originate from the Divine
- •Creation and dissolution are expressions of God's nature
Avyaktad vyaktayah sarvah prabhavanty ahar-agame, ratry-agame praliyante tatraivavyakta-samjnake
With the coming of day, all manifestations emerge from the unmanifest; and with the coming of night, all are dissolved back into what is called the unmanifest. The rhythm of cosmic creation and dissolution follows Brahma's day and night — at the dawn of each cosmic day, creation springs forth, and at cosmic night, all returns to the unmanifest.
- •Creation and dissolution are as regular as day and night on the cosmic scale
- •All manifest existence emerges from and returns to the unmanifest
- •The cosmic rhythm reflects the eternal dance between the manifest and unmanifest
Sarva-bhutani kaunteya prakritim yanti mamikam, kalpa-kshaye punas tani kalpadau visrijamy aham
At the end of a cosmic cycle, O son of Kunti, all beings merge into My nature, and at the beginning of the next cycle I send them forth again. This describes the universal rhythm of creation and dissolution driven by the Lord's divine nature and will.
- •Cosmic creation and dissolution follow God's divine cycles
- •All beings return to the Lord at the end of each kalpa
- •The Lord is both the origin and destination of all existence
Bhavapyayau hi bhutanam shrutau vistarasho maya, tvattah kamala-patraksha mahatmyam api cavyayam
O lotus-eyed Krishna, I have heard in detail from You the origin and dissolution of all living beings, and also Your inexhaustible greatness.
- •God is the source and end of all existence
- •Divine greatness is inexhaustible
- •Listening to divine wisdom prepares the seeker
Damshtra-karalam ca te mukham drishtvaiva kalanalasannibham, disho na jane na labhe ca sharma prasida devesa jagan-nivasa
Seeing Your mouths with terrifying tusks, like the blazing fires of dissolution, I lose my sense of direction and find no peace. Be gracious, O Lord of gods, O refuge of the universe.
- •The divine as cosmic dissolution is terrifying
- •Seeking refuge is the natural response to overwhelming power
- •Grace of God is sought even in the midst of terror
Vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā vishanti daṁṣhṭrākarālāni bhayānakāni, kechid vilagnā daśhanāntareṣhu sandṛishyante chūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥ
They rush into Your terrifying, gaping mouths with fearful fangs. Some are seen caught between Your teeth with their heads already crushed.
- •Time as God devours all beings
- •No one is spared from the cycle of dissolution
- •The vision reveals the frightening truth of impermanence
Yathā pradīptaṁ jvalanaṁ pataṅgā vishanti nāshāya samṛiddha-vegāḥ, tathaiva nāshāya vishanti lokās tavāpi vaktrāṇi samṛiddha-vegāḥ
As moths rush swiftly into a blazing fire to their own destruction, so do all these creatures rush swiftly into Your mouths to their own destruction.
- •Beings rush into dissolution, compelled by fate
- •Ignorance drives creatures toward destruction
- •The moth and flame: desire leading to ending
Lelihyase grasamānah samantāl lokān samagrān vadanair jvaladbbhih, tejobhir āpūrya jagat samagraṁ bhāsas tavograḥ pratapanti vishṇo
You lick Your lips and are devouring all the worlds on every side with Your blazing mouths. O Vishnu, filling the entire universe with Your radiance, Your fierce rays are scorching everything.
- •God is the great devourer at the end of time
- •Divine radiance both sustains and consumes
- •The ferocity of cosmic dissolution is beyond imagination
Avibhaktam cha bhutesu vibhaktam iva cha sthitam, bhuta-bhartr cha taj jneyam grasishnu prabhavishnu cha
Though undivided, Brahman appears to be divided among all beings. It is the sustainer of all beings; it is the devourer and the creator. The one undivided Absolute appears manifold, yet its unity is never actually broken.
- •The Absolute is undivided yet appears as many
- •Brahman simultaneously creates, sustains, and dissolves
- •Unity underlying apparent diversity is the highest truth
Idam jnanam upashritya mama sadharmyam agatah, sarge 'pi nopajayante pralaye na vyathanti cha
By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one attains to My own nature. Such persons are not born at the time of creation, nor disturbed at the time of dissolution. Merger with the divine nature is the ultimate fruit — transcending even the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction.
- •This knowledge grants liberation from cosmic cycles
- •The liberated soul attains the divine nature of Krishna
- •Freedom from birth and dissolution is the highest state