Gita 09.07 – Repetition of discussion is meant for elevation of vision
Bhagavad Gita 9.7 So here Krishna is speaking about His relationship with this world. Section 9.4 to 9.10 talks about inconceivable nature of Krishna's relationship with the world.
And that connection He is speaking here. Sarva-bhutani kaunteya, O Kaunteya, O Arjuna, Sarva-bhutani. All living beings, in fact, all of existence.
Prakritim yanti mamikam, mamikam. They come unto Me. Prakritim yanti.
All of material nature is withdrawn to Me when Kalpakshaya is destruction. Kalpa is a cosmic time span after which, it is a colossal cosmic time span after which, depending on the kind of pralaya that is happening, either partially or entirely the universe is destroyed. And punas, taani, punas, again taani.
Kalpadau visrujamyaham. Kalpadau, at the beginning of a kalpa. Visrujami.
Visrujami is to create. Visrujami is to create in a special way. Sujamiaham.
So, Krishna is, He is not the direct creator of this world. The role of creating, the responsibility of creating, that is allocated to Brahmaji. But Brahmaji is not an independent creator.
As in the Bhagavatam, Brahmaji, in the second canto, Brahmaji tells Naragamuni, rocitam rociyamiaham. That which has been already provided in the seed form. I am like a gardener who causes the seed to grow.
I only manifest that which has been created. So, in that sense, Brahmaji is the secondary creator. The primary creator is Krishna.
So, Visrujami, He creates through His agents. Here in this chapter, Krishna takes, in this verse, Krishna takes the vision which He has given in the 8th chapter ahead. In the 8th chapter also, He talked about how the universe is destroyed and it is created.
Sahasrayuga paryantam ahariyat brahmano vido ratram yuga sahasrantam teho ratravido janaham. He said that in 8.17, 18.19 also talks about the same theme. And Krishna is repeating that discussion here.
But is it just a repetition? No, it's not a repetition. It's an elevation. It is whereas in the 8th chapter, the focus was on the fact that even the highest abode in the material world is temporary.
Even Brahma's abode is going to be destroyed. The whole of cosmos is going to be destroyed. Therefore, one should not raise one's vision above the material world.
I should not aim to transmigrate to any abode within the material world. So, there the focus was on the temporality of the material world. Whereas here, the focus is on the supervisory role of Krishna.
His transcendence, his eternality are implicit therein. So, in 8.20, Krishna has said that there is another world. He said that when everything in this world is destroyed, that part remains as it is.
And he said also that that part is, in 8.22, he says, 8.21, next verse only he says that. That is my abode, Krishna says. That means Krishna stays over there.
And if he stays over there, from there when he controls, from there when he guides, from there when he elevates, at that time, it is his, it is his transcendence, which is unaffected. So, the previous verse talked about, previous verses, in fact, in 9.4 and 9.5, the Lord's connectedness with the world and his disconnectedness from the world, both have been talked about. And his supervision, his supervisory role will be talked about soon, in the special 9.10. But here Krishna is making the point clear that we shouldn't think that the cosmic annihilation and the cosmic creation simply happens automatically.
It happens by his will. It is, Krishna is saying that I do the creation. So, it is not something which is mechanical, but it is, it is under supervision.
While the exact time scales, which the Puranas describe for the description, for the cosmic annihilation, and for the cosmic, for how long the cosmos stays, and after how long it will be annihilated, and how long it will stay in an unmanifested state, after which it will again manifest, all those specifics are important in their own way. But more important than the specifics is the principle that there is a Supreme Being who is transcendental, and it is that Supreme Being for connecting with whom we should aspire for. When we connect with the one who is beyond destruction, we will also go beyond destruction.
Just as a person who is being tossed around in the ocean, on seeing someone who is outside the ocean, either in a boat or in a rescue airplane, and the person connect, the drowning person connects with the rescuing person, then that person can be rescued, the drowning person can be rescued. The Upanishads say that, that only by knowing him can we attain liberation. You can go beyond death.
There is no other path for going beyond. This theme was talked earlier in this section, 9.3, when Krishna said that, and he said that, that those who do not have faith in him, they come back to this ocean, to this material existence, which is characterized by death. So, Krishna is the path to deathlessness, and turning away from Krishna is the path of repeated deaths.
So, here Krishna will point, Krishna will lead to that conclusion gradually. Here he makes the point specifically that, he is not a part of this world of repeated creation and destruction, but he is overseeing that. That means, even when everything is destroyed, at that time, it seeks shelter in him.
And so, just as all of material nature in its unmanifested state takes shelter in him, but that happens avashyaha, that happens forcefully, unintentionally. The theme of the Gita will be that, if we do that intentionally, consciously,.