If creation arises from the Lord deliberately conjoining conscious souls with an unconscious field, what does that imply about the dignity — or the entrapment — of embodied existence?

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/14/3.

Shankara treats the field-knower as conditioned by ignorance and karma even before this descent into a body. Does that make liberation a recovery of something prior, or an achievement of something new?

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/14/3.

Ramanuja insists the union of the two prakritis is an act of the Lord's will, not mechanical causation. What difference does it make, existentially, whether the world is willed or merely arises?

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/14/3.

Madhva reads even the apparent suffering of Sita as divine illusion-play (mithya-pradarshanam). Does a framework where all suffering is illusory make compassion harder or easier to justify?

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/14/3.

Vallabha calls the jivas 'non-different from my own caitanya.' If jivas are portions of divine consciousness, why do they experience limitation and bondage at all?

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/14/3.

Every school agrees on one point: the Lord is the ultimate cause, not an equal partner in a Sankhya dualism. What does it mean for spiritual practice if the very ground of your bondage is also the ground of liberation?

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/14/3.

Mahat brahma is called both 'the great' (surpassing all effects) and 'the womb' (a receptive, passive role). What does it reveal about the tradition that ultimate matter is described with both cosmic grandeur and intimate fertility imagery?

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/14/3.

BG 14.3 — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 14.3Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Bhārata · anuṣṭubh

मम योनिर् महद् ब्रह्म तस्मिन् गर्भं दधाम्यहम् ।

संभवः सर्वभूतानां ततो भवति भारत ॥

mama yonir mahad brahma tasmin garbhaṃ dadhāmy aham

saṃbhavaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṃ tato bhavati bhārata

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna.

ekras · bhāṣya

My yoni — womb — is mahat brahma, the great Brahman. In that yoni I, aham, dadhami garbham, place the seed. From that conjunction sambhavah — the coming-into-being — of all beings happens, bharata.

Krishna names Himself as both the holder-of-the-womb and the seed-placer; the cosmos is His own reproductive act. The chapter's metaphysics is at once stark and intimate.

Shankara reads mahat brahma as Krishna's own tripartite prakriti — called great because it surpasses all effects and nourishes its own transformations. Into that womb the Lord, wielding the dual power of field and field-knower, deposits the seed — the embryo of Hiranyagarbha — and that is the cause of all birth. The act conjoins the conscious purusha with the inert prakriti so that all beings come forth.

Madhusudana addresses the Sankhya position: unlike Sankhya where prakriti and purusha are independently co-causal, here the Lord makes explicit that both are subordinate instruments. Mahat brahma is His womb; His resolve aham bahu syam prajayeya — let me become many — is the seed He deposits there. Just as a father places his son-seed into a womb so the son acquires a body, the Lord acquires the cosmos through this act. Sankhya without Ishvara is refuted in one image.

Ramanuja reads with characteristic warmth: mahat brahma is the unconscious prakriti — the eight-fold lower nature described in 7.4 — and it belongs entirely to Bhagavan as His sharira. Into it Bhagavan deposits the seed, which is the chetana-punja — the aggregate of conscious souls — identified as His para prakriti from 7.5. The conjunction of bhokta with bhogya is the Lord's own creative act, not autonomous Sankhya mechanics.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: mahat brahma here means prakriti, and that prakriti is not one entity but is itself threefold — Shri, Bhu, Durga — while Uma, Sarasvati, and other beings are other jivas who are amshas of those goddesses. The yoni in mama yonih is the place of embryo-placement, not the mother — as the Sama-veda Sharkarakshashruti confirms: 'Vishnu's yoni is Mahamaya, purposed.' Hari is the seed-giver, the prakriti-goddesses are the womb-holders, and all beings are jivas placed in that arrangement.

Vallabha reads the verse as Bhagavan's revelation of His acintya-shakti-vaibhava-lila. Prakriti as 'My yoni' is a portion of His own sat-essence — sad-amsha-bhuta — designated mahat brahma by shruti: 'tasmat etat brahma nama-rupam annam cha jayate.' Into that unconscious causal prakriti the imperishable Purusha — akshara-atma — deposits the conscious seed. The whole creation is His lila-act, not external mechanism.

Shridhara reads cleanly: prakriti is called mahat brahma because it is unlimited in space and time and because it causes the brimhana — the growth — of all its effects. That mahat brahma is the Lord's garbhadhana-sthana, place-of-embryo-placement; into it He deposits the chid-abhasa, reflected consciousness, that is the cause of world-expansion. The bhakta sees the cosmic process as Krishna's own act, not as autonomous Sankhya nature.

Context

where

Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Bhārata

preceded by — BG 14.2

Those who take refuge in this knowledge reach my own nature, and at creation they are not born again into the world's cycles, nor do they tremble when it dissolves.

What's going on

The great Brahman is my womb; into it I place the seed, and from that union all beings come forth, Arjuna.

Sūtras through this verse (29)

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here14.3───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

12.20These devotees are exceedingly dear.───→here14.3───→14.26Unwavering love fits one for brahman.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

11.54Undivided love — sādhana stripped, grace-clothed.───→here14.3───→14.26Beyond the modes is grace-rooted love.

show all 29

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadstation

───→here14.3───→

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordstation

───→here14.3───→

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

14.2At creation's reissue the released remain free.───→here14.3───→15.6The supreme abode does not return its dwellers.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

2.72Akṣapāda and Kaṇāda are simply ruled out.───→here14.3───→14.27What stands behind brahman is fixed by named texts.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeexit

13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.───→here14.3───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

12.6Single-aim devotion draws the lifting hand.───→here14.3───→14.26Unswerving devotion crosses the modes.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

14.1Now, the highest of all knowings.───→here14.3───→15.1Dispassion first; else neither knowing nor love.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

9.32Even the low-born reach the highest goal.───→here14.3───→14.18The modes decide which womb is next.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

13.21Clinging to modes causes any new birth.───→here14.3───→14.5Three modes bind the imperishable.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

12.13Friend to all, equal in cold and in heat.───→here14.3───→14.24Past the modes, equal in praise and blame.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here14.3───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalapproach

───→here14.3───→14.26Fit for the state of brahman, not fused.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeexit

13.10A steady evenness is the seeker's mark.───→here14.3───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

14.1Two-verse prelude names guṇa-vibhāga.───→here14.3───→18.1Closing chapter's prelude seals the program.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

11.54Bhāgavata + Brahmasūtra fuse at the vision-verse.───→here14.3───→14.26Brahman dwells in the one beyond the modes.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

13.13Not a power-of-the-Lord; the Lord himself, formless.───→here14.3───→14.27I am the foundation of formless Brahman itself.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

12.20The middle six closes on the fearless ripened one.───→here14.3───→14.27The brahma-ground obtains in this body.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderexit

13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here14.3───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningexit

13.1The last six work what 'are' really means.───→here14.3───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyatebetween

13.7Twenty jñāna-qualities: still description.───→here14.3───→14.22Guṇātīta-lakṣaṇa follows the same rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousbetween

14.1Modes belong to the Lord's prakṛti.───→here14.3───→15.7Aṃśa pinned to the Lord, not free.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

14.1Beyond sāṅkhya: the modes that bind.───→here14.3───→18.1The closing chapter gathers all questions.

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktabetween

13.20Both natures cause the body's binding.───→here14.3───→14.5Three modes bind the soul.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessbetween

7.12Modes from the Lord — the Lord not in them.───→here14.3───→14.5Three primary contractions of cit.

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidexit

12.12'Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyaga───→here14.3───→

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideexit

13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.───→here14.3───→

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 14 occurrences)

भवति √bhū — to be, become; the earth (verbal root / noun) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
ब्रह्म brahman — Brahman (the Absolute); also: the Veda; sacred utterance · nominative neuter singular noun · also at 1.1, 2.72, 3.14, 3.15, 4.21, 4.24 +40
तस्मिन् tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · locative neuter singular noun
संभवः sambhava — origin, birth (sam- + √bhū) · nominative masculine singular noun
भारत bhārata — descendant of Bharata; epithet of Arjuna · vocative masculine singular noun

show all 13

मम·अहम् mad ×2 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive singular noun / nominative singular noun
योनिः yoni — womb, source, origin · nominative feminine singular noun
महत् mahat — great, large; the cosmic intellect (mahattattva) · nominative neuter singular noun
गर्भम् garbha — womb, embryo, interior · accusative masculine singular noun
दधामि dhā — to place, hold, put (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
सर्व sarva — all, entire · compound
भूतानाम् bhūta — being, creature; element; past, gone · genitive neuter plural noun
ततस् tatas — from there, then, therefore

Praśna · so what (7)

01If creation arises from the Lord deliberately conjoining conscious souls with an unconscious field, what does that imply about the dignity — or the entrapment — of embodied existence?
02Shankara treats the field-knower as conditioned by ignorance and karma even before this descent into a body. Does that make liberation a recovery of something prior, or an achievement of something new?

show all 7

03Ramanuja insists the union of the two prakritis is an act of the Lord's will, not mechanical causation. What difference does it make, existentially, whether the world is willed or merely arises?
04Madhva reads even the apparent suffering of Sita as divine illusion-play (mithya-pradarshanam). Does a framework where all suffering is illusory make compassion harder or easier to justify?
05Vallabha calls the jivas 'non-different from my own caitanya.' If jivas are portions of divine consciousness, why do they experience limitation and bondage at all?
06Every school agrees on one point: the Lord is the ultimate cause, not an equal partner in a Sankhya dualism. What does it mean for spiritual practice if the very ground of your bondage is also the ground of liberation?
07Mahat brahma is called both 'the great' (surpassing all effects) and 'the womb' (a receptive, passive role). What does it reveal about the tradition that ultimate matter is described with both cosmic grandeur and intimate fertility imagery?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you feel yourself driven by old habit-patterns — a craving that returns despite resolution, an anger that seems older than the current provocation — Shankara's model names this precisely: it is the field-knower still carrying avidya (ignorance), karma, and desire from before this birth. The practice is not to suppress the pattern but to inquire whether the knower behind the habit is itself conditioned — and in that inquiry, momentarily, the knower stands free.

Dvaita

Madhva's insistence that the yoni is a place of embryo-holding, not a mother with independent agency, maps onto personal boundaries: you are a jiva entirely dependent on Hari for existence, but the structures you navigate — family, institution, culture — are also not independent agents with final power over you. They are instruments the Lord uses. The practice is to act with full effort inside these structures while holding lightly to their apparent authority over your destiny.

show all 4

Bhakti

Sridhara's description of the jiva as having been 'dissolved in the Lord at pralaya carrying latent karma' means you arrive in this life already shaped by a long history you cannot consciously remember. The bhakti practice this suggests is not self-reinvention but surrender to the current field: the people and circumstances you find yourself in are precisely the bhogya (experience-field) into which your specific karmic residue has been placed. Devotion is meeting that field with acceptance rather than resistance.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudan's father-seed analogy — the Lord placing cidabhasa (reflected consciousness) into maya so the soul can acquire a body — implies that the self you identify with is a 'reflection,' not the original light. In moments of crisis, when the reflected-self feels overwhelmed, the practice is to look for the source of the reflection rather than trying to fix the image. Inquiry into who is experiencing the overwhelm is simultaneously a Vedantic act (jnana) and a devotional one (acknowledging the original light belongs to the Lord).

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 14, Verse 3: Krishna to Arjuna — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga