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universe and which survives all the heavenly planets in the upper strata of the planetary system, but in due course Brahmā and all inhabitants of Brahmaloka are subject to death, according to the law of material nature. So even if we live millions and trillions of years, we have to die. Death cannot be avoided. Throughout the entire universe the process of creation and annihilation is taking place, as described in the next verse:
avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavanty ahar-āgame rātry-āgame pralīyante tatraivāvyakta-saṁjñake
“When Brahmā’s day is manifest, this multitude of living entities comes into being, and at the arrival of Brahmā’s night they are all annihilated.” (Bg. 8.18)
Unless we go to the spiritual sky, there is no escaping this process of birth and death, creation and annihilation. When Brahmā's days are finished, all these planetary systems are covered by water, and when Brahmā rises again, creation takes place. The word  ahar  means "in the daytime," which is twelve hours of Brahmā's life. During this time this material manifestation—all these planets—are seen, but when night comes they are all merged in water. That is, they are annihilated. The word  rātry-āgame  means "at the fall of night." During this time, all these planets are invisible because they are inundated with water. This flux is the nature of the material world.
bhūta-grāmaḥ sa evāyaṁ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate rātry-āgame 'vaśaḥ pārtha prabhavaty ahar-āgame
“Again and again the day comes, and this host of beings is active; and again the night falls, O Pārtha, and they are helplessly dissolved.” (Bg. 8.19) Although we do not want devastation, devastation is inevitable. At night, everything is flooded, and
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when day appears, gradually the waters disappear. For instance, on this one planet, the surface is three-fourths covered with water. Gradually, land is emerging, and the day will come when there will no longer be water but simply land. That is nature's process.
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśvatṣu na vinaśvati
“Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and nonmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.” (Bg. 8.20)
We cannot calculate the length and breadth of this universe. There are millions and millions of universes like this within this material world, and above this material world is the spiritual sky, where the planets are all eternal. Life on those planets is also eternal. This material manifestation comprises only one fourth of the entire creation.  Ekāmśena sthito jagat. Ekāmśena  means “one fourth.” Three fourths of the creation is beyond this material sky, which is covered like a ball. This covering extends millions and millions of miles, and only after penetrating that covering can one enter the spiritual sky. That is open sky, eternal sky. In this verse it is stated,  paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyaḥ : “Yet there is another nature.” The word  bhāva  means another “nature.” We have experience only with this material nature, but from  Bhagavad-gītā  we understand that there is a spiritual nature that is transcendental and eternal. We actually belong to that spiritual nature, because we are spirit, but presently we are covered by this material body, and therefore we are a combination of the material and spiritual. Just as we can understand that we are a combination of both natures, we should understand also that there is a spiritual world beyond this material universe. Spiritual nature is called superior, and material nature is called inferior, because without spirit, matter cannot move.
This cannot be understood by experimental knowledge. We