Bhagavad Gita 7.6

apareyam itas tv anyāḿ
prakṛtiḿ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāḿ mahā-bāho
yayedaḿ dhāryate jagat

Translation of Bhagavad Gita 7.6

All created beings have their source in these two natures. Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution.

Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

Everything that exists is a product of matter and spirit. Spirit is the basic field of creation, and matter is created by spirit. Spirit is not created at a certain stage of material development. Rather, this material world is manifested only on the basis of spiritual energy. This material body is developed because spirit is present within matter; a child grows gradually to boyhood and then to manhood because that superior energy, spirit soul, is present. Similarly, the entire cosmic manifestation of the gigantic universe is developed because of the presence of the Supersoul, Vishnu. Therefore spirit and matter, which combine to manifest this gigantic universal form, are originally two energies of the Lord, and consequently the Lord is the original cause of everything. A fragmental part and parcel of the Lord, namely the living entity, may be the cause of a big skyscraper, a big factory, or even a big city, but he cannot be the cause of a big universe. The cause of the big universe is the big soul, or the Supersoul. And Krishna, the Supreme, is the cause of both the big and small souls. Therefore He is the original cause of all causes. This is confirmed in the Katha Upanishad (2.2.13). Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam.

Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

The Lord is the cause of the world, by these two energies. Know that all moving and non- moving entities arise from these two energies, maya sakti and jiva sakti, ksetra and ksetra jna. I alone am the creator of all this universe, since these two energies arise from me, and I alone am the destroyer of the universe, since it merges into me, in the form of these two energies, which are under my control.

Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:

7.6 Know that all beings from Brahma down to a tuft of grass, who have their origin in these two Prakrtis of Mine, are aggregated forms of the self and of inanimate matter. Irrespective of whether they are existing in a superior or inferior form, the selves and inanimate matter are mixed together in them. On account of their origination in My two Prakrtis, they are Mine. So, know that because the entire universe has its origination in these two Prakrtis which have their origination in Me, I am myself the origin and dissolution of the entire universe. For the same reason, I am its Lord (Sesin). It is proved on the basis of the Srutis and Smrtis that these two, Prakrti and Purusa (matter and the self), which form the aggregate of all animate and inanimate beings, have the Supreme Person as their cause. This is evident from Sruti and Smrti texts like the following: ‘The Mahat resolves into Avyakta, Avyakta into Aksara, Aksara into Tamas, and Tamas becomes one with the Supreme Lord’ (Su. U., 2); ‘O sage, distinct from the form of Visnu, the Supreme Lord, the two forms, Prakrti and Purusa, arise’ (V. P., 1.2.24); and ‘What was described by Me as Prakrti in its dual form of the manifest and the unmanifest, and the Purusa do merge in the Supreme Self, and the Supreme Self is the support of all. He is the Supreme Lord named Visnu, exalted in the Vedas and Vedanta’ (V. P., 6.4.38-39).

Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:

By describing the lower and higher, dual nature of prakriti the material substratum, Lord Krishna effectively explains His being their complete cause. All things moving and stationary have prakriti for their origin and are included in one of these two prakriti being either kshetra the field of activity and kshetrajna the utiliser of the field of activity. Of these the inert lower nature evolves as a physical body. Whereas the sentient prakriti with an eternal spark from the Supreme Lord being the atma or soul enters into all sentient beings as the witness and experiencer and sustains each and every being by their actions. Both these two prakritis are manifested from Lord Krishna and all living entities are subject to them. He is the originating cause from which each and everything effectively comes into existence. He is the ultimate cause of all creation entirely and He is also the sovereign cause of the periodic dissolution of all creation as well.

Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:

It is not only that all creation is dependent upon Lord Krishna but also the wonderful phenomena of creation itself is a form of His splendour. Because of His splendour there is beauty and supremacy as well due to He being the established cause, the ultimate enjoyer and the illuminator. The Vedic scriptures iterate: That Lord Krishna is the all knowing, all performing, all enjoying, all fragrance and all essence. He is all things that can be seen or thought even though unknowable in words to be described by speech. Thus is He eulogised. Creation, preservation and destruction are all co-ordinated, orchestrated, energised and illuminated solely by just a fragment of Lord Krishna. Thus have seers and sages praised Him throughout the millenniums. The Narada Purana states: Because He is the ultimate enjoyer of all, He is known as sarva or everything and not because of His universal form. Even the enjoyments of the future are always His. Therefore through His inconceivable power all enjoyments are His.

Now begins the summation.

Gross manifestations and consciousness is the lower form of prakriti or the material substratum and subtle manifestations and consciousness is the higher form. Both are endowed with the attributes of three gunas or goodness, passion and ignorance; but only the subtle higher form is endowed with Sri or Laksmi Devi the beloved of the Supreme Lord. Both these forms are subservient to Lord Krishna and cause all the worlds to be created. Lord Krishna is the father of creation and from His energy Sri being the subtle consciousness can be seen as the mother of creation. Energised by Lord Krishna’s creative potency all creation is manifested through her.

Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:

Lord Krishna now reveals that He alone is the sole source of the entire creation and its dissolution as well. Everything in all creation movable and immovable have manifested and evolved from His two fold nature. He is the cause of the creation of the inanimate temporary physical body and He is the cause of the animate eternal embodied atma or soul. The inanimate reality is due to a modification of His propensity as He becomes the substratum while the animate reality is the way by which He enters into material nature and enjoying participates and interacts with it. The physical body cannot sustain and grow without the life principle of the atma and both the physical body and the soul are both His powers and both completely under His control. The power and the powerful cannot remain separate because the source of the power is found residing in the powerful only.

Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:

7.6 Upadharaya, understand; iti, thus; that sarvani, all; bhutani, things; etat-yonini, have these (etat) as their source (yoni)-things that have these lower and higher Prakrtis, charcterized as the ‘field’ and the ‘Knower of the field (body)’, as their source are etat-yonini. Since My two Prakrtis are the source, the cause of all things, therefore, aham, I; am the prabhavah, origin; tatha, as also; the pralayah, end, the termination; krtsnasya, of the whole; jagatah, Universe. The maning is this: I, who am the ominscient God, am the source of the Univese through My two Prakrtis. Since this is so, therefore-

Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:

7.6-7 Etadyonini etc. Mattah etc. Keep them nearby : You should place them in your neihbourhood following the method of experience augmented by practice. Or [it may mean that] You should bear in mind that I, the Vasudeva, am both the origin and destruction of all beings. What is indicated by ‘I’ is this : Even though [it is viewed that] the Absolute (Isvara) is distinct from the Prakrti, Soul and Supreme Soul, It remains by all means immanent in all; hence there is no room for the theory of dualism of the Sankhya and the Yoga schools. Just as the pearls on the string. Just as the string does exist unobserved in the interior [in a necklace] though its form remains undetected, in the same fashion I remain in all.

Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:

etad-yonini bhutani
sarvanity upadharaya
aham krtsnasya jagatah
prabhavah pralayas tatha

Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:

etat — these two natures; yonīni — whose source of birth; bhūtāni — everything created; sarvāṇi — all; iti — thus; upadhāraya — know; aham — I; kṛtsnasya — all-inclusive; jagataḥ — of the world; prabhavaḥ — the source of manifestation; pralayaḥ — annihilation; tathā — as well as.