सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम्
कल्पक्षये पुनस्तानि कल्पादौ विसृजाम्यहम्
sarvabhūtāni kaunteya prakṛtiṃ yānti māmikām
kalpakṣaye punastāni kalpādau visṛjāmyaham
TRANSLATION
All beings, O Arjuna, enter into My Prakrti at the end of a cycle of time. Again I send these forth at the beginning of a cycle of time.
PURPORT
All the mobile and immobile entities enter into My Prakrti at the end of a cycle, namely at the end of Brahma’s life in accordance with My will. This Prakrti, constituting My body, is designated by the term Tamas, as it cannot be differentiated into name and form. I again send forth the very same beings at the beginning of a cycle. Manu declares accordingly: ‘This universe became Tamas.... by an act of will. He produced it out of His body’ (Manu, 1.5.8). The Shrutis also declare thus: ‘He whose body is Avyakta’ (Su.U., 7); ‘The Avyakta merges into Akshara, the Akshara into Tamas’ (Ibid., 2); and also ‘There was Tamas; the intellegence was concealed by Tamas’ (Tai.Br., 1.8.9).
