Gita 14.3

Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga

मम योनिर्महद्ब्रह्म तस्मिन्गर्भं दधाम्यहम् | सम्भवः सर्वभूतानां ततो भवति भारत ||३||

mama yonir mahad brahma tasmin garbhaṁ dadhāmy aham | sambhavaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ tato bhavati bhārata ||3||

In essence: The great Brahman (prakriti) is My womb; I place the seed of consciousness - thus all beings arise.

A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply

Sadhak-Guru Dialogue

Sadhak: "This imagery of womb and seed is very physical. Is Krishna speaking literally about how the universe was created?"

Guru: "All language about the ultimate must be metaphorical because the ultimate transcends language. But this metaphor reveals something essential: creation is not manufacturing but birth. The universe is alive, gestated, not assembled."

Sadhak: "So matter and spirit unite to create beings? Like the Sankhya teaching of purusha and prakriti?"

Guru: "Yes, but Krishna adds a crucial dimension. In classical Sankhya, purusha and prakriti are eternally separate principles. Here, both emerge from and belong to Krishna. He is the ultimate source that appears as both the receiving womb and the activating seed."

Sadhak: "What does this mean for me personally? How does knowing I come from this divine union help me?"

Guru: "It means you are never merely material nor merely spiritual. Your body is the womb-substance of the divine. Your awareness is the seed-consciousness of the divine. When you feel trapped in matter, remember your consciousness is divine seed. When you feel ungrounded in spirituality, remember your body is divine womb. Both dimensions are sacred, both are 'mama' - belonging to Krishna."

Did this resonate with you? Share it with someone who needs to hear this.

🌅 Daily Practice

🌅 Morning

As you inhabit your body upon waking, recognize it as 'divine womb' - not something inferior to spirit but the very matter of the Divine giving you form. Treat your body with the reverence due to something sacred. This body is how the infinite becomes particular, how the universal takes a specific expression.

☀️ Daytime

When interacting with the material world - objects, food, nature, other bodies - remember these are all expressions of the divine womb. The prakriti giving them form is Krishna's own. Let this recognition transform how you handle material things: not with worship, but with respect; not with attachment, but with appreciation.

🌙 Evening

Before sleep, contemplate both dimensions of your being. Feel the body as the womb-dimension, the field of experience. Feel awareness as the seed-dimension, the light that knows. Notice how intimately they are woven together in this moment. Rest in appreciation of this miraculous union that constitutes your very existence.

Common Questions

If prakriti is Krishna's womb, is matter itself divine? Should we worship nature?

Matter is divine in the sense of being an expression of the Divine, but it's not the highest expression. The womb serves the seed; prakriti serves consciousness. Respecting nature as sacred is appropriate, but worshipping matter alone misses the conscious dimension that animates it. The proper understanding honors both - neither denying the body's sacredness nor forgetting the spirit's primacy.

This sounds like the universe is God's child. Is Krishna saying the cosmos is literally His offspring?

In a sense, yes. The universe is not separate from the Divine, nor is it simply the Divine - it is the Divine expressing, gestating, playing as multiplicity. Unlike human children who become separate beings, the cosmic creation never leaves the womb of divine awareness. It remains always within and of the Divine, even while appearing as myriad forms.

How does this relate to the three gunas that Krishna is about to describe?

The gunas are the fundamental qualities of the womb-prakriti. When the divine seed enters the womb, these three qualities (sattva, rajas, tamas) determine what kind of expression emerges. They are like genetic material in the womb that shapes how the seed-consciousness manifests. Understanding the gunas is understanding the nature of the womb that gives you form.

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