idaṁ jñānamupāśritya mama sādharmyamāgatāḥ | sarge ’pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca ||14.2||
Resorting to this knowledge, those who have gained oneness with Me, do not come to be born even when there is creation, and they do not perish in the dissolution (of creation).
Resorting or pursuing this knowledge means śravana, manana, and nididhyāsana. Following these means, the sages gained this knowledge which is the nature of the Lord - mama sādharmyamāgatāḥ. They have discovered that oneself is non separate from the Īśvara. This is not the condition of having similar attributes, as some would interpret that they would get some of Īśvara’s overlordship - aiśvaryam. But they recognise their essential identity - sat-cit-ānanda.
Even though countless numbers of beings have been departed from this world, they remain in other places and after dissolution, they are born again in different forms, even new jivas occupy the positions of presiding deities. For those who recognise their identity as īśvara, they remain as brahman where there is no individual at all to assume one form or the other.
After praising the knowledge in the first two verses, Lord Krsna now begins the topic on how the prakṛti guna binds a person. First he points out the cause for all these creations.
mama yonirmahadbrahma tasmingarbhaṁ dadhāmyaham | sambhavaḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ tato bhavati bhārata ||14.3||
Bhārata (Arjuna)! My māyā is primordial cause out of which (everything) grows and which sustains (everything). That I impregnate. From that occurs the manifestation of all beings.
Here Lord Krsna adjusts to our point of view to reveal how a creation comes into being, where usually requires intelligent cause and material cause. We call the material cause, prakṛti or māyā. Just like clay is material cause of all pots and cups in earthenware, yoni is out of which everything is born, which is prakṛti. When he says mama yoni, means my material cause has no independent being apart from me. Māyā is the primordial cause out of which all subtle and gross bodies have come - mahad, and because of which everything grows and is sustained - brahma. Brahma here is not sat-cit-ānanda, but etymologically means that which is big and sustains.
tasmingarbhaṁ dadhāmyaham - in this māyā I impregnate, by lending existence and consciousness to this prakṛti, so it has the capacity to create. Initially, something is necessary there for the creation to begin and it is expressed in other śruti also. The Taittiriya Upanisad says, “He desired - so ‘kāmayata”. That desiring is the impregnation. There is always a question about why brahman has desire to create this world? The word desire is just a formality to express how an initiation of creation comes to being. Just like before a pot is made, there should be a desire on the part of the pot maker, otherwise the creation of the pot will not happen. Because of brahman lending the existence to māyā, then all the manifestation occurs - sambhavaḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ. Therefore the whole world is now in the form of nothing but prakṛti.
sarvayoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ | tāsāṁ brahma mahadyonirahaṁ bījapradaḥ pitā ||14.4||
Kaunteya (Arjuna)! The great māyā is the original (material) cause for those forms which are born in all wombs. I am the one who gives the seed, the fathers.
sarvayoniṣu - the various wombs which are born from māyā include gods, manes, human being, animal, etc. When māya is said to be brahma mahadyoniḥ - that which sustains everything as the material cause, then Īśvara is the intelligent cause who gives the seed - ahaṁ bījapradaḥ pitā.
To be inline with our knowledge of what is needed for someone to be born, the intelligent cause of creation is described here as one who gives the seed is the father and māyā as material cause is the mother. We always see these two causes are two different entities, but the truth is they are one and the same existence consciousness brahman alone. Māyā itself has no real existence apart from brahman. Whatever takes place to initiate the creation is called giving the seed and the giver of the seed is bījaprada.
What is there to initiate a creation? When something is said to be created means it didn’t exist and now it exists. As per our perception, a thing is perceived then we say it exists, and vice versa. But actually what is gone is only that particular name and form, yet the existence still is. When a pot is shaped from a lump of clay, we say the pot comes to existence, and when a pot is broken, we say the pot no longer exists. Actually only the name and form of the pot undergoes change becomes broken pieces of clay. Then we can crush those pieces of clay become clay powder, here the existence of clay still remain, only the name and form change. If we keep going with this process, it will reach existence itself. Existence is a common factor underlying every modification as name and form. None of any existence thing comes from non-existence. There is always a basis for manifestation to any different form, and that basis is existence - sat alone, which is called the seed for creation here. But this existence is not an insentient thing, since any manifestation requires knowledge which comes from a sentient conscious being. Therefore this existence - sat is nothing but the consciousness - cit. When I say “I exist”, at the same time I am affirming that I am consciousness which exist. And this me is the very basis of the entire creation. When everything is my projection alone, there is nothing can limit me, since everything is me alone. This limitless nature - ananta, get expressed as experiential happiness - ānanda in our lives. Therefore sat-cit-ānanda I am.
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