Text 17]
Nārada Instructs the Pracetās
1579
“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)
When the cosmic manifestation is dissolved, it is in a kind of sleeping condition, an inactive state. Whether the cosmic manifestation is active or inactive, the energy of the Supreme Lord is always existing. Thus the words “appearance” and “disappearance” apply only to the cosmic manifestation.
TEXT 17
यथा नमस्त्रतमःप्रकाशा भवन्ति भूपा न भवन्त्यनुकमात् । एवं परे ब्रह्मणि शक्त्यस्त्वम् रजस्तमःसत्त्वमिति प्रवाहः ॥१७॥
yathā nabhasy abhra-tamaḥ-prakāśā bhavanti bhūpā na bhavanty anukramāt evam pare brahmaṇi śaktayas tv amū rajas tamaḥ sattvam iti pravāhaḥ
yathā—as; nabhasi—in the sky; abhra—clouds; tamaḥ—darkness; prakāśāḥ—and illumination; bhavanti—exist; bhū-pāḥ—O Kings; na bhavanti—do not appear; anukramāt—consecutively; evam—thus; pare—supreme; brahmaṇi—in the Absolute; śaktayaḥ—energies; tu—then; amūḥ—those; rajaḥ—passion; tamaḥ—darkness; sattvam—goodness; iti—thus; pravāhaḥ—emanation.
TRANSLATION
My dear Kings, sometimes in the sky there are clouds, sometimes there is darkness, and sometimes there is illumination. The appearance of all these take place consecutively. Similarly, in the Supreme Absolute, the modes of passion, darkness and goodness appear as consecutive energies. Sometimes they appear, and sometimes they disappear.
PURPORT
Darkness, illumination and clouds sometimes appear and sometimes disappear, but even when they have disappeared, the potency is still there, always existing. In the sky sometimes we see clouds, sometimes rainfall and sometimes snow. Sometimes we see night, sometimes day, sometimes illumination and sometimes darkness. All these exist due to the sun, but