Bg. 8.18

BG 8.18

Devanagari

अव्यक्ताद्‍ व्यक्तय: सर्वा: प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे । रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके ॥ १८ ॥

Verse text

avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavanty ahar-āgame rātry-āgame pralīyante tatraivāvyakta-saṁjṣake

Synonyms

avyaktāt from the unmanifest ; vyaktayaḥ living entities ; sarvāḥ all ; prabhavanti become manifest ; ahaḥ-āgame at the beginning of the day ; rātri-āgame at the fall of night ; pralīyante are annihilated ; tatra into that ; eva certainly ; avyakta the unmanifest ; saṁjṣake which is called.

Translation

At the beginning of Brahmā’s day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

18. At the coming of day, all things become manifest from the sleeping state of Brahmā, and at the approach of night they again become unmanifest.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

18. At the coming of day, all things become manifest from the sleeping state of Brahmā, and at the approach of night, they again become unmanifest.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Those who are inferior, residing within the three planetary systems, perish day after day. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī says: the word avyakta refers to Brahmā in his sleeping state (not a total dissolution), since during the daily creation and dissolution of the universe, the elements remain intake. Then from a sleeping state (avyaktāt), through Brahmā, the places of enjoyment in the form of bodies and objects of enjoyment manifest (vyaktayā), or become suitable for use. At the coming of night, when Brahmā sleeps, everything disappears within him.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Those who are less advanced than the above mentioned persons, the inhabitants of svarga, earth and the lower planets, will meet destruction in each day of Brahmā. [Note: The planets and inhabitants above svarga loka are not destroyed at the end of Brahmā’s day, but those below are destroyed. Those on Brahma-loka may continue until the end of Brahmā’s one hundred years.] At the commencement of Brahmā’s day, when Brahmā awakens from sleeping state (avyaktāt), all bodies, senses, objects of enjoyment, and places of enjoyment (sarvāḥ vyaktayaḥ) become manifest. At the commencement of Brahmā’s night, when it is time to sleep, they disappear within Brahmā (tatra eva), caused by his sleep (avyakta-saṁjṣake). The word avyakta in this verse does not refer to pradhāna, since this verse is speaking of the daily creation and destruction, during which time the elements like ether remain intact. [Note: Merging into the pradhāna will only take place at the end of Brahmā’s life.] Thus avyakta here refers to the sleeping state of Brahmā.