A declaration · reflective in mood · a little context helps
“All formed things return and rise again under nature’s compulsion.”
O Arjuna, this entire group of beings is born again and again, and is dissolved at the coming of night; at the coming of day, it rises again, helplessly.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallygroup of beings · that same · indeed · this · having become again and again · is dissolved · at the coming of night · helplessly, under compulsion · O Partha · arises · at the coming of day
All living beings keep arising and dissolving again and again. They do so under the pull of nature, not by choice.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Akshara Brahma Yoga" (The Imperishable Absolute).
Verse 19 sits in Chapter 8 of the Bhagavad Gita — Akshara Brahma Yoga, "The Imperishable Absolute". The chapter has 28 verses in total.
You build a life, a role, a relationship, then watch it shift overnight. What felt fixed was always moving through a larger rhythm you do not control.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from clinging to temporary forms toward seeing their repeated rising and falling as natural.
What this verse means
All living beings keep arising and dissolving again and again. They do so under the pull of nature, not by choice.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen by grief while Krishna explains the rhythm behind all created life. After describing cosmic day and night, Krishna says every being rises and falls in that cycle under nature’s compulsion.
Why this verse still matters
You build a life, a role, a relationship, then watch it shift overnight. What felt fixed was always moving through a larger rhythm you do not control.
“You can stop mistaking repeated change for permanence.”
Explore related themes: prakriti (31 verses), avyakta (10 verses)