Devanagari
यथैव सूर्यात्प्रभवन्ति वार:
पुनश्च तस्मिन्प्रविशन्ति काले ।
भूतानि भूमौ स्थिरजङ्गमानि
तथा हरावेव गुणप्रवाह: ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
yathaiva sūryāt prabhavanti vāraḥ
punaś ca tasmin praviśanti kāle
bhūtāni bhūmau sthira-jaṅgamāni
tathā harāv eva guṇa-pravāhaḥ
Synonyms
yathā
—
as
;
eva
—
certainly
;
sūryāt
—
from the sun
;
prabhavanti
—
is generated
;
vāraḥ
—
water
;
punaḥ
—
again
;
ca
—
and
;
tasmin
—
unto it
;
praviśanti
—
enters
;
kāle
—
in due course of time
;
bhūtāni
—
all living entities
;
bhūmau
—
to the earth
;
sthira
—
not moving
;
jaṅgamāni
—
and moving
;
tathā
—
similarly
;
harau
—
unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
eva
—
certainly
;
guṇa
—
pravāhaḥ — emanation of material nature .
Translation
During the rainy season, water is generated from the sun, and in due course of time, during the summer season, the very same water is again absorbed by the sun. Similarly, all living entities, moving and inert, are generated from the earth, and again, after some time, they all return to the earth as dust. Similarly, everything emanates from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in due course of time everything enters into Him again.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Just as water arises from the sun and enters the sun, and just as animals and plants arise from the earth and enter the earth, the world made of guṇas arises from the Lord and enters him.
Two examples are given to show that the Lord is root of everything. Just as water comes from the sun during the monsoon season and enters in the sun during the summer seasons, and just as the living beings arise from the earth and return to the earth, the world made of guṇas (guṇa-pravāhaḥ) arises and returns to the Lord.
Purport
Because of their poor fund of knowledge, impersonalist philosophers cannot understand how everything comes out from the Supreme Person and then merges into Him again. As
Brahma-saṁhitā
(5.40)
confirms:
yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-
koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam
tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Transcendental rays emanate from the body of Kṛṣṇa, and within those rays, which are the Brahman effulgence, everything is existing. This is confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.4)
:
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni.
Although Kṛṣṇa is not personally present everywhere, His energy is the cause of all creation. The entire cosmic manifestation is nothing but a display of Kṛṣṇa’s energy.
The two examples given in this verse are very vivid. During the rainy season, the rain, by rejuvenating the production of vegetables on earth, enables man and animals to obtain living energy. When there is no rain, food is scarce, and man and animal simply die. All vegetables, as well as moving living entities, are originally products of the earth. They come from the earth, and again they merge into the earth. Similarly, the total material energy is generated from the body of Kṛṣṇa, and at such a time the entire cosmic manifestation is visible. When Kṛṣṇa winds up His energy, everything vanishes. This is explained in a different way in
Brahma-saṁhitā
(5.48)
:
yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ
viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
This entire material creation comes from the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and at the time of annihilation again enters into Him. This process of creation and dissolution is made possible by the breathing of the Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is only a plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa.