Chapter 8 Shlokas 17, 18, 19

सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदु:।

रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जना:।।१७।।

अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तय: सर्वा: प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे।

रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके।।१८।।

भूतग्राम: स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते।

रात्र्यागमेऽवश: पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे।।१९।।

Brahm’s day is equivalent to a thousand yugas; Brahm’s night is equivalent to a thousand yugas. He who realises this secret, knows the essence of both day and night.

 At the onset of day, all beings emerge from the unmanifest. With the advent of night, they merge back into that unmanifest.

Thus this entire aggregate of beings emerges again and again and, bound by its nature, is absorbed at the coming of night, only to re-emerge when day dawns.

Chapter 8 Shlokas 17, 18, 19

सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद्ब्रह्मणो विदु:।

रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जना:।।१७।।

अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तय: सर्वा: प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे।

रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके।।१८।।

भूतग्राम: स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते।

रात्र्यागमेऽवश: पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे।।१९।।

Now Bhagwan talks about Brahm:

Brahm’s day is equivalent to a thousand yugas; Brahm’s night is equivalent to a thousand yugas. He who realises this secret, knows the essence of both day and night. At the onset of day, all beings emerge from the unmanifest. With the advent of night, they merge back into that unmanifest. Thus this entire aggregate of beings emerges again and again and, bound by its nature, is absorbed at the coming of night, only to re-emerge when day dawns.

The Lord has just said that all realms, including that of Brahmloka, are subject to rebirth. Beings from all these realms return to this earth except for those who have attained Lord Krishna – they do not return to this mortal sphere through rebirth.

The attainment of Brahmloka is also transient. This realm originates from the union of Brahm’s energies – both inert and conscious. All the realms are dependent on Brahm’s creative prowess and are transient. They are attained through the latencies of past deeds. Thoughts are the reason of their origin – this has been explained by the Lord earlier.

1. Here the Lord now describes the world cycle.

2. This cycle does not run on its own, it is compelled to do so.

3. Thought processes, gunas and actions unite with the five basic elements and create the body, which is bound by destiny.

As long as the body idea, the idea of doership, and the belief that ‘I exist as an individual’ predominate, the cycle of birth and death continues to rotate and attainment of the Supreme is impossible.

Brahmloka can still be attained, but one cannot attain the Supreme State.

a) All the three realms are constituted of the five elements.

b) They are all created from the threefold energy of the gunas.

c) Only those bound by the body are subject to rebirth in these three realms.

d) The different names of the lokas are in accordance with the mental state of the individual.

e) The various lokas are differentiated in accordance with the internal state of the beings.

Evaluated from the point of view of sadhana:

1. The mind which is attached to external sense objects, abides in Bhuloka.

2. When the mind looks towards the Atma and makes an effort to renounce both raag and dvesh or attachment and aversion, it can be said to be the Manoloka.

3. When the individual’s mind acknowledges selfless deeds as noble and elevated, and he begins to perform such deeds, he can be said to abide in Devaloka.

4. When the mind is absorbed in knowledge, it can be said to be established in Brahmloka.

5. The subtle ego still exists in Brahmloka.

It is only when the ego is annihilated that the sadhak becomes an Atmavaan. So long as the attachment of the individual with his body, mind and intellect is not completely eradicated, the cycle of birth and death continues.

a) Thousands of sanskars or latencies accumulate within the individual.

b) Latencies of past births also gather within.

c) The seeds of the fruits of innumerable actions are waiting to burst forth.

These sanskars or latencies need thousands of years before they attain quiescence and the individual remains completely oblivious to the Atma until then. One could describe this as Brahm’s night. The individual is asleep to his Self, even whilst awake.

Seen from another angle, this creation exists for several ages and then merges into its origin. That period of re-absorption can be called Brahm’s night.

When creation takes place again, Brahm’s day dawns. This entire creation merges into That Om and again re-emerges from That Unmanifest Om. The Lord clarifies that even when all beings are destroyed, That Indestructible, Ancient, Unmanifest Truth is never given to destruction.