Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 6

एतद्योनीनि भूतानि सर्वाणीत्युपधारय।
अहं कृत्स्नस्य जगतः प्रभवः प्रलयस्तथा।।
etad-yonīni bhūtāni sarvāṇītyupadhāraya ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā
also searched as "etad yonini bhutani sarvanityupadharaya"

Translation

Know that all beings have these two as the source of their birth. Therefore, I am the origin and the dissolver of the whole universe.

Vāṇi's rendering

From these two wombs come all beings. I am the birth of this whole world — and its dissolving.

Word by word

Sanskrit & transliterationMeaning
एतद्योनीनिetad-yonīnihaving these two as their womb, born from these
भूतानिbhūtānibeings, everything that lives
सर्वाणिsarvāṇiall, without exception
इतिitithus, in this way (joined by sandhi to the words on either side)
उपधारयupadhārayahold this firmly in mind, know it for certain
अहम्ahaṁI
कृत्स्नस्यkṛtsnasyaof the entire, of the whole
जगतःjagataḥof the world, of all that moves
प्रभवःprabhavaḥthe coming-forth, the origin
प्रलयःpralayasthe dissolving, the going-back
तथाtathālikewise, equally

Commentary

Krishna has just named two natures — the eightfold outer and the living inner — and now he calls them wombs. Not building blocks. Wombs: places that bear and release. Everything Arjuna can see on that field, every body and every mind inside it, came out of them. Then the harder claim. Krishna is not only where the world begins but where it ends, and he says both in one breath, without changing tone. We take a maker gladly. We resist the unmaker. They are the same hand. What is ending in your life this month is not being taken from you by a stranger.

Frequently asked

What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 6 mean?
Krishna tells Arjuna that the two natures described just before — the outer, elemental one and the inner, living one — are the womb of every being that exists. Nothing is born outside them. And since both natures are his, he is where the whole world comes from and where it returns.
What does 'etad yonini bhutani sarvani' mean?
It means every being has these as its womb. Yoni is not a mechanism but a birthplace — something that carries, then lets go. Krishna is saying that no creature, however small or however grand, arrives from anywhere else. One source, two faces, all beings.
Why does Krishna call himself the dissolving of the world too?
Because a source that only begins things is half a source. Pralaya is not punishment; it is the return leg of the same motion that brought the world out. Krishna claims both ends without flinching, so that Arjuna will stop treating endings as accidents inflicted by something hostile.
How do I use this verse when something in my life is ending?
Stop asking who took it. The verse gives no room for a thief. What arose from Krishna is returning to Krishna, and your grief is real without being evidence of betrayal. Hold that firmly — upadhāraya — and the ending becomes something you can stand inside.

Themes in this verse

Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.

View on the App Store