Bagavatgita a detailed study chapter 9 brahmavidhya the royal secret

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7. sarvabhoothaani kountheya prakrthim yanthi maamikaam

kalpakshaye punaH thaani kalpaadhou visrjaamyaham

All beings enter into My prkrthi at the end of the cycle of time and again I let them out at the beginning of the cycle

The prakrthi which the Lord calls His in the sense that it is controlled and supervised by Him, gives rise to the world of beings as stated in a subsequent sloka.10.

8. prakrthim svaam avashtabhyavisrjaami punaH punaH

bhothagraamam iamam krtsnam avaSam prakrtheh vaSaath

Controlling the prakrthi, which is My own, I send forth again and again all this multitude of beings, which are helpless under the sway of Prakrthi

All beings when they become unmanifest but possess their karma in subtle form, manifest t at the time of creation in their original formlike the seed of mango tree becoming a mango tree only and not a tamarind tree. This is akin to the time of deep sleep when all beings are of the same nature as they merge with their self which is the same in all. But when ethey wake up they do so in the same form and with the same attitude as before.

The Upanishad describes this as `tha iha vyaaghro vaa simho vaa vrko vaa varaaho vaa keeto vaa pathango vaa dhamSo vaa masako vaa yath yath bhavanthi thath aabhavanthi.'

Whatever these creatures are here . tiger or lion or wolf or boaror worm or fly or mosquito etc. they cecome the same again.

That is , they remain unaware of their identity and merge in the Supreme being without being aware of t it where there is difference between one soul and another. Because of this absence of awareness due to ignorance they are reborn again according to their past tendencies.

The created beings are controlled by prakrthi comprising of the three gunas, and act accordingly. But by saying this is 'my prakrthi' the Lord is open to criticism of being partial and cruel as there is so much suffering in the world. The answer to this is given in the next sloka.

 

9. na cha maam thaani karmaaNi nibaDhnanthi Dhananjaya

udhaaseenavath aaseenamasktham theshu karmasu

These acts, (meaning creation, sustenance and annihilation,) do not bind Me because I am detached from them as though indifferent.

The activities of the created beings are in accordance with their karma and the creation takes place accordingly. The words "I create" is to be understood not in the sense of the potter and the pot or even clay and the pot but like the waves of the sea that come in different shapes and sizes and as long as the wave exist as such it has to experience the inequality according to its own nature and duration but when it merges back into the sea it loses the distinctness only to rise again in different form and size etc. So the sea may say that "I only create the waves but I am not bound by and not attached to their action."

To cite another example, the electricity is the cause of all activities of the instruments of electricity but what is done with the instrument is not in any way affects the electricity. The current passes equally to a life saving equipment in a hospital as well as to an electric chair used in execution. Similarly the creation etc . are caused by the Lord but He is not in any way affected by them, since the action was neither ego- centric nor desire-motivated. The similar idea was expressed in the sloka22of chapter3.

10. mayaaDhyaksheNa prakrthiH sooyathe sacharaacharam

hethunaa anena kountheya jagath viparivarthathe

Controlled and supervised by Me the prkrthi gives birth to the world of sentient and insentient beings. And due to this the world revolves.

The world revolves meaning that the creation sustenance and annihilation happens again and again in each kalpa, which means at the end of one life time of Brahma when all including Brahma merge in the absolute . But except thos who attain salvation the other beings lie dormant in unmanifest form and at the time of creation they come out in their original form and attitude.