Bhagavad Gita

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 8: Akshar Brahma Yogam Verse 19

Bhagavad Gita - krishna

(Image Courtesy Mahanidhiswami)

 Following The Spiritual Path Is The Only Way To Break Free From The Cycle Of Birth And Death

भूतग्राम: स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते |
रात्र्यागमेऽवश: पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे || 8.19||

bhūta-grāmaḥ sa evāyaṁ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate
rātryāgame ’vaśhaḥ pārtha prabhavatyahar-āgame|| 8.19||

Shloka Translation
BG – Ch. 8- Ver. 19:

Countless entities are born with the arrival of Brahma’s day, reabsorbed with the arrival of the cosmic night, and then manifest anew automatically with the arrival of the next cosmic day.

Explanation

The Vedas list four different types of dissolution. Nitya Pralaya is When we sink into a deep sleep at night, our consciousness dissolves on a daily basis.

Naimittik Pralaya: At the end of Brahma’s day, all of the abodes up to Mahar Lok become desolate, and all of the souls who reside there become unmanifest. They remain in Vishnu’s body, suspended in time, awaiting the next creation cycle. These souls are reborn based on their prior karmas when Brahma generates these lokas again.
Maha Pralaya: When Brahma’s life comes to an end, the entire cosmos disintegrates. All of the universe’s souls unmanifest and remain in Maha Vishnu’s body. Their gross (sthl) and subtle (skhma) bodies fade away, but their causal (kra sharr) body remains. These souls are reborn in the next cycle of creation based on their prior karmas and sanskrs, which the causal body of the soul stores and carries with it.

Ātyantik Pralaya: This is the release from the grips of maya, which have enslaved the soul for all eternity. It occurs when the soul ultimately attains God and is freed from the cycle of birth and death for all time.

Verse & what we can learn

We previously heard about the cosmic creation process, in which all living and non-living beings in the cosmos manifest at the start of Brahma’s day. During Lord Brahma’s night, all of these entities become unmanifest or “frozen.” When Lord Brahma’s day begins, the same entities become manifest or “un-frozen” once more.
Nothing is ever made or destroyed, as we observed earlier. The same beings manifest and unmanifest at the same time. The universe’s total number of “beings” remains constant. Those who pass away are reborn in a new shape. Forms fluctuate, but the total amount of “matter” in the universe remains constant. There are 8.4 million species, which are nothing more than forms.

All beings, whether plants, animals, minerals, or humans, are helplessly trapped in the wheel of samsaara, or the circle of birth and reincarnation. They will never be able to break free from this cycle until they actively follow a spiritual path, whatever that path may be.

To acquire knowledge and to implement that knowledge in life one needs to be mentally and physically active and healthy and for that daily meditation is a great tool.

There are various types of meditation like Buddhist meditation, heartfulness meditation, mindfulness meditation, meditation for stress, and each meditation benefits are countless. There are also numerous meditation techniques for beginners which help in practicing daily meditation so go ahead and start your journey towards a peaceful and balanced life.

Plants, animals, minerals or humans are helplessly stuck in this wheel of birth and rebirth, otherwise known as the wheel of samsaara. So how exactly do we escape from this situation? Shri Krishna explains this to Arjuna in the next shloka.

Let’s learn to live with “The Gita” via Meditation Affinity…

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