📿 Shloka Collection

Bhutagramah Sa Evayam

Gita 8.19 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8 — Akshara Brahma Yoga
भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते ।
रात्र्यागमेऽवशः पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे ॥
Bhutagramah sa evayam bhutva bhutva praleeyate,
Ratryagame'vashah partha prabhavaty aharagame.
भूतग्रामः
the multitude of beings
सः एव अयम्
this very same
भूत्वा भूत्वा
coming into being again and again
प्रलीयते
dissolves
रात्र्यागमे
at the fall of night
अवशः
helplessly
पार्थ
O Partha
प्रभवति
comes into being
अहरागमे
at the coming of day

Krishna repeats the point with added force. The same host of beings comes into existence again and again, and dissolves again and again. When Brahma's night arrives, they vanish — helplessly. When his day dawns, they reappear.

"Avashah" — helplessly — is a powerful word. These beings have no say in the matter. They are born and they perish according to the rhythm of nature. Waves rise and fall in the ocean — not because they choose to, but because that is the ocean's nature.

Hearing this stirs a natural sense of detachment. If this world is created and destroyed over and over, what is the point of clinging to it? Far wiser to seek refuge in the eternal Lord who stands beyond this cycle altogether.

Shlokas 8.17-8.19 form a unit describing the cosmic cycle of creation and dissolution. The next shloka (8.20) pivots to the reality that transcends this cycle entirely: "parastasmaat tu bhavo'nyah" — but beyond all of this, there is another reality. The phrase "bhutva bhutva praleeyate" — born again and again, dissolved again and again — captures the very heart of samsara.

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