Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Verse 18 (8.18)

avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavantyaharāgame rātryāgame pralīyante tatraivāvyaktasaṁjñake

Word-by-word guide:

Line 1:

अव्यक्तात् (avyaktat) — अव्यक्त से(from the unmanifest)
व्यक्तयः (vyaktayah) — व्यक्त प्राणी/रूप(manifest beings)
सर्वाः (sarvah) — सभी(all)
प्रभवन्ति (prabhavanti) — उत्पन्न होते हैं(arise)
अहरागमे (ahah-agame) — दिन आने पर(when day comes)

Line 2:

रात्र्यागमे (ratri-agame) — रात आने पर(when night comes)
प्रलीयन्ते (praliyante) — लीन हो जाते हैं(dissolve)
तत्र (tatra) — वहीं(there)
एव (eva) — ही(indeed)
अव्यक्तसंज्ञके (avyakta-samjnake) — अव्यक्त नामक में(into what is called unmanifest)

English: At the dawning of that day all objects in manifestation stream forth from the Unseen, and when evening falls they are dissolved into It again.

Note:

At the start of Brahma's day, all manifest beings emerge from the unmanifest state, and at Brahma's night, they dissolve back into it. This shows the cyclical nature of physical creation.

Learnings from Shloka 18:

Cyclical Existence:: Creation and destruction are natural cycles of the material universe.
Non-Attachment to Form:: Since all forms dissolve back into the unmanifest, we should not cling to temporary shapes.

Gita/Sanskrit Language Quiz

Practice this shloka vocabulary

Match Sanskrit words from shloka 8.18 with their Hindi and English meanings.

Practice vocabulary

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