Sanskrit
प्रकृतिं स्वामवष्टभ्य विसृजामि पुनः पुनः । भूतग्राममिमं कृत्स्नमवशं प्रकृतेर्वशात् ॥
prakṛtiṃ svām avaṣṭabhya visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ bhūtagrāmam imaṃ kṛtsnam avaśaṃ prakṛter vaśāt
Translation
Hidden in Nature, which is mine own, I emanate again and again all this multitude of beings, helpless, by the force of Nature.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Restates verse 7 with an added emphasis on compulsion — beings are emanated “helpless” (avaśam), driven by nature’s own force rather than their own will. The repetition built into the line itself (“again and again,” punaḥ punaḥ) mirrors the cyclical content it describes: the verse’s form enacts the recurrence it names. Avaśaṃ prakṛter vaśāt — “helpless, under nature’s sway” — is the same avaśaḥ of BG 8.19 and BG 3.5: the ordinary being has no vote in the cycle. Verse 9 exempts only Krishna.
Study deeper
Word by word
- prakṛtiṃ svām avaṣṭabhyaप्रकृतिं स्वां अवष्टभ्य
- resting on My own nature (prakṛtim + svām + avaṣṭabhya)
- visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥविसृजामि पुनः पुनः
- I send forth again and again (visṛjāmi + punaḥ + punaḥ)
- bhūtagrāmam imaṃ kṛtsnamभूतग्रामं इमं कृत्स्नं
- this entire multitude of beings (bhūta-grāmam + imam + kṛtsnam)
- avaśaṃ prakṛter vaśātअवशं प्रकृतेः वशात्
- helpless, by the force of nature (avaśam + prakṛteḥ + vaśāt)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The compulsion described here isn’t framed as a personal failing — beings are “avaśam,” helpless, within a nature Krishna calls explicitly “svām,” his own. The verse locates the force acting on ordinary beings outside them entirely: not weak will, but an outside system operating on its own terms. That’s a different diagnosis than moral failure, and it changes what kind of response even makes sense to the situation.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you feel compelled toward a pattern you don't endorse, consider that the pull may be coming from a larger system you're embedded in rather than a personal weakness — the right response to a system's pull differs from the right response to a character flaw.
Professional
- When a team keeps reverting to old behavior despite a new process, look for the structural incentives still pulling them there before concluding it's a discipline problem — people caught in a system's logic aren't necessarily failing to try.
Family & Social
- When someone you love keeps repeating a pattern that frustrates you both, consider whether a larger context — habit, environment, history — is exerting force on them, rather than treating the repetition as a simple choice they keep getting wrong.
Ask yourself
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