Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.31.15

yathaiva sūryāt prabhavanti vārah

punaś ca tasmin praviśanti kāle

bhūtāni bhūmau sthira-jańgamāni

tathā harāv eva guna-pravāhah

SYNONYMS

yathā — as; eva — certainly; sūryāt — from the sun; prabhavanti — is generated; vārah — water; punah — again; ca — and; tasmin — unto it; praviśanti — enters; kāle — in due course of time; bhūtāni — all living entities; bhūmau — to the earth; sthira — not moving; jańgamāni — and moving; tathā — similarly; harau — unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; eva — certainly; guna-pravāhah — emanation of material nature.

TRANSLATION

During the rainy season, water is generated from the sun, and in due course of time, during the summer season, the very same water is again absorbed by the sun. Similarly, all living entities, moving and inert, are generated from the earth, and again, after some time, they all return to the earth as dust. Similarly, everything emanates from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in due course of time everything enters into Him again.

PURPORT

Because of their poor fund of knowledge, impersonalist philosophers cannot understand how everything comes out from the Supreme person and then merges into Him again. As Brahma-samhitā (5.40) confirms:

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-

kotishv aśesha-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam

tad brahma nishkalam anantam aśesha-bhūtam

govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi

Transcendental rays emanate from the body of Krishna, and within those rays, which are the Brahman effulgence, everything is existing. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.4). Mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni. Although Krishna is not personally present everywhere, His energy is the cause of all creation. The entire cosmic manifestation is nothing but a display of Krishna's energy.

The two examples given in this verse are very vivid. During the rainy season, the rain, by rejuvenating the production of vegetables on earth, enables man and animals to obtain living energy. When there is no rain, food is scarce, and man and animal simply die. All vegetables, as well as moving living entities, are originally products of the earth. They come from the earth, and again they merge into the earth. Similarly, the total material energy is generated from the body of Krishna, and at such a time the entire cosmic manifestation is visible. When Krishna winds up His energy, everything vanishes. This is explained in a different way in Brahma-samhitā (5.48):

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya

jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-anda-nāthāh

vishnur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśesho

govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi

This entire material creation comes from the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and at the time of annihilation again enters into Him. This process of creation and dissolution is made possible by the breathing of the Mahā-Vishnu, who is only a plenary portion of Krishna.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness