Bhagavatgita a detailed studychapter8- Imperishable Brahman

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16. aabrahmabhuvanaallokaaH punaraavarthino arjuna

 

maam upethya thu kountheya punarjanma na vidhyathe

 

Till the region of Brahma all worlds cause rebirth only, Arjuna. But on attaining Me there is no rebirth, Oh son of Kunthi.

 

There are 14 lokas listed in the puranas, seven above earth and seven below. The Brahmaloka is the highest limit because all beings are created by Brahma, the creator. Actually these lokas are not places of residence but only realms of consciousness. Till brahmaloka the "I" consciousness exists and hence these realms of consciousness are not eternal but causes rebirth once the merit acquired to reach these lokas is exhausted. In the second chapter Krishna said `rasavarjam raso pi asya param dhrshtvaa nivearthathe.' The impressions or vasanas that cause rebirth are not destroyed but lie dormant until the realization of Brahman, denoted by paramdhrshtvaa.

 

Hence worlds upto and including Brahmaloka are subjected to return and "only on reaching Me," says Krishna, " there is no return." That is, the souls reaching these places have rebirth. The reason for this is indicated in the next sloka.

17. saharayugaparyantham ahahaH yath brhamaNo vidhuH

rAthrim yugasaharaanthaam thE ahOrAthravidho janAh.

The wise who know (conception of ) the day and night know that the day of Brahma lasts for 1000 yugas. Thousand yugas form the night.

Even the world of Brahma is finite in time. Those who have the knowledge of time say that the day of Brahma lasts for 1000 chathuryugas and the nights are of the same duration.

The yuga here means the devayuga which is the total of 4 yugas of mortals. Thousand such yugas make one day for Brahma. The kaliyuga for men lasts for 4,32,000 human years. Dhvaparayuga for 8,64,000 human years, that is double of kaliyuga. Thretha yuga lasts for 12,96,000 human years, that is 3 times kaliyuga. Sathyayuga is for 17.28,000 human years or four times kaliyuga. The total years for the four yugas is thus 43,20,000 human years, which is equal to one devayuga. Thousand times deva yuga makes one day for Brahma and another thousand make the night. Mind boggling!

Those who know this are the wise who has the knowledge that, all the worlds including that of brahma are not permanent, however long is their duration compared to that of the earth.

18. avyakthaath vyakthayaH sarvaah prabhavanthi aharagame

raathryaagame praleeyanthe thathraiva avyakthasanjhake

All become manifest from the unmanifest at the daybreak (of Brahma). At the nightfall they merge in there into the unmanifest

 

19. bhoothagraamaH sa evaayam bhoothvaa bhotthvaa

praleeyathe

raathryaagame avasaH paarTha prabhavanthi aharaagame

The aggregate of beings thus again and again appear from and merge into (the unmanifest) at the night (of Brahma) which is not in their control

When it is night for Brahma all beings are dissolved in the unmanifest and are born again when the day dawns for Brahma. All beings exist in the unmanifest state and again become manifest at the day break. when Brahma starts the creation. The karma of beings which determine the nature of their creation is in subtle state and becomes gross when they are born again. Thus the dissolution at the end of 1000yugas serves as a temporary rest for all creatures, like a long sleep.

In Ninth chapter Krishna mentions about the mahaapralaya when even Brahma ceases to exist and the Lord starts the creation including that of Brahma. But here at the night of Brahma it is avaanthara pralaya after which Brahma starts his creation again.