Gita 9.7
Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga
सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम् । कल्पक्षये पुनस्तानि कल्पादौ विसृजाम्यहम् ॥
sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām | kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni kalpādau visṛjāmy aham ||
In essence: All beings return to My cosmic womb at the end of creation's day, and when morning comes again, I breathe them forth anew - an eternal rhythm of cosmic sleep and awakening.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "This sounds terrifying - everything I am, everything I know, dissolving at the end of the kalpa. What happens to ME in that dissolution?"
Guru: "What happens to the dream character when you wake up? Does that character suffer?"
Sadhak: "The dream character simply... ceases. But I, the dreamer, continue."
Guru: "And do you grieve for the dream character each morning?"
Sadhak: "No, because I know I was never really that character. I was always the dreamer pretending to be the character."
Guru: "Now you understand cosmic dissolution. The 'you' that fears kalpa-kṣaya is the dream character - the ego-identity constructed from body, mind, memories, relationships. That indeed dissolves. But YOU - the awareness in which this character appears - are you really that?"
Sadhak: "You're saying I won't experience the dissolution as loss because the 'I' that could experience loss is itself what dissolves?"
Guru: "Precisely. And what remains - pure awareness, your true Self - rests peacefully in the Divine, as it always has. For that Self, dissolution is like deep sleep: a profound rest before the next dream begins."
Sadhak: "But the verse says beings are 'created again' at the next kalpa. So we're reborn into another cosmic cycle? Isn't that terrifying - infinite cycles of existence?"
Guru: "Only terrifying if you identify with the character in the cycles. For the awakened one, who knows themselves as the Dreamer, each cycle is a new play, a fresh expression of creative joy. The fear belongs to the character; the joy belongs to the Author."
Sadhak: "How do I stop being the character and become the Author?"
Guru: "You cannot 'become' what you already are. But you can stop pretending to be what you're not. This knowledge Krishna shares - who you really are, what creation really is, how it all rests in the Divine - contemplated deeply, dissolves the false identification. Then even while the character continues its role, you know you are the One playing all roles."
Sadhak: "And at liberation - do the cycles still continue for the liberated one?"
Guru: "The cycles continue for prakṛti. The liberated one recognizes they were always beyond prakṛti - the screen on which the movie plays, not any character in the movie. As Krishna will say later, they don't return to rebirth even when new kalpas begin."
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🌅 Daily Practice
As you wake, recognize that a kind of 'mini-kalpa' has occurred - the universe of yesterday's waking experience dissolved in sleep and is now being 'created again' as you wake. Take a moment before engaging with the day to notice: Who is this 'I' that persisted through sleep's dissolution? This I-awareness is the thread that continues through all states. Set intention: 'Today I practice resting as this continuous awareness rather than getting lost in the contents that appear and disappear.'
When facing the impermanence of anything - a relationship ending, a project completing, an era passing - remember kalpa-kṣaya. ALL forms dissolve eventually. This is not pessimism but freedom. Ask: 'What in me is NOT subject to dissolution?' The answer - pure awareness, the witness - is your true Self. Let this remembrance create a light hold on all that changes, an appreciation of present manifestation without desperate clinging.
Before sleep, consciously release the day's creation. Everything that manifested in your experience today - people met, words spoken, tasks accomplished, emotions felt - let it all dissolve back into the unmanifest. Say: 'Like beings entering Krishna's prakṛti at kalpa's end, I let today's universe return to its source.' Enter sleep as a conscious dissolution, trusting that what needs to manifest tomorrow will emerge from the same source. This practice prepares for life's final dissolution with grace rather than fear.