Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, Verse 10
मयाध्यक्षेण प्रकृतिः सूयते सचराचरम् । हेतुनानेन कौन्तेय जगद्विपरिवर्तते
mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram | hetunānena kaunteya jagadviparivartate
Translation
By Me presiding, Prakṛti produces the moving and the unmoving; because of this, O son of Kuntī, the world revolves.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- mayā
- by me
- adhyakṣeṇa
- (by, as) supervisor (lord)
- prakṛtiḥ
- nature
- sūyate
- sends out
- sacarācaram
- with the moving and, with the unmoving and, together
- hetunā
- by cause
- anena
- (by) this
- kaunteya
- O Kaunteya
- jagat
- the world
- viparivartate
- revolves
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
"By Me presiding": as a mere viewer on every side and the immutable witness. My Māyā, i.e., the Avidyā composed of the three guṇas, produces the universe comprising the moving and the unmoving objects. The chant says: "The one, the luminous, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the Inner Self of all, the superintendent of all acts, the abode of all beings, the witness, the perceiver, alone, and free from qualities" (Śvet. Up. 6.11). Because I am the witness, because I preside, this universe comprising the moving and the unmoving objects, the manifested and the unmanifested, moves on through all stages.