Bhagavad Gita · 10.6 · Yoga through Appreciating the Infinite Opulences of God·6 of 42
महर्षयः सप्त पूर्वे चत्वारो मनवस्तथा।मद्भावा मानसा जाता येषां लोक इमाः प्रजाः ॥
maharṣhayaḥ sapta pūrve chatvāro manavas tathā
mad-bhāvā mānasā jātā yeṣhāṁ loka imāḥ prajāḥ
Sanskrit recitation
The source behind everything · 10.1–10.11 · Teaching
Translation
The seven great sages, the ancient four, and the Manus, possessing powers like Mine (due to their minds being fixed on Me), were born from My mind; from them, these creatures have been born in this world.
Meaning
In the beginning I was alone and from Me came the mind and from the mind were produced the seven sages (such as Bhrigu, Vasishtha and others), the ancient four Kumaras (Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara and Sanatsujata), as well as the four Manus of the past ages known as Savarnis, all of whom directed their thoughts to Me exclusively and were therefore endowed with divine powers and supreme wisdom.The four Kumaras (chaste, ascetic youths) declined to marry and create offspring. They preferred to remain perpetual celibates and to practise BrahmaVichara or profound meditation on Brahman or the Absolute.They were all created by Me, by mind alone. They were all mindborn sons of Brahma. They were not born from the womb like ordinary mortals. Manavah, men, the present inhabitants of this world, are the sons of Manu. The Manus are the mindborn sons of God. These creatures which consist of the moving and the unmoving beings are born of the seven great sages and the four Manus. The great sages were original teaches of BrahmaVidya or the ancient wisdom of the Upanishads. The Manus were the rulers of men. They framed the code or rules of conduct or the laws of Dharma for the guidance and uplift of humanity.The seven great sages represent the seven planes also
After Swami Sivananda
The source behind everything· 10.1–10.11→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 10.1The Blessed Lord said, Again, O mighty-armed Arjuna, listen to my supreme word which I will declare to you, who are beloved, for your welfare.
- 10.2Neither the hosts of the gods nor the great sages know My origin; for I am the source of all the gods and the great sages in every way.
- 10.3He who knows Me as unborn and beginningless, as the great Lord of the worlds, he among mortals is undeluded and is liberated from all sins.
- 10.4Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, happiness, pain, existence or birth, non-existence or death, fear, and also fearlessness.
- 10.5Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, beneficence, fame, and ill-fame—these different qualities of beings arise from Me alone.
10.6The seven great sages, the ancient four, and the Manus, possessing powers like Mine (due to their minds being fixed on Me), were born from My mind; from them, these creatures have been born in this world.
- 10.7He who truly knows these manifold manifestations of My Being and this Yoga-power of Mine, becomes established in unshakable Yoga; there is no doubt about it.
- 10.8I am the source of all; from me everything evolves; Understanding this, the wise, endowed with meditation, worship me.
- 10.9With their minds and lives wholly absorbed in Me, they enlighten each other and ever speak of Me, being satisfied and delighted.
- 10.10To those who are ever steadfast, worshipping me with love, I give the yoga of discrimination, by which they come to me.
- 10.11Out of mere compassion for them, I, dwelling within their selves, destroy the darkness born of ignorance with the luminous lamp of knowledge.
Word-by-word→
- loke
- in the world
- sapta
- seven
- pūrve
- before
- tathā
- also
- imāḥ
- all these
- jātāḥ
- born
- manavaḥ
- Manus
- prajāḥ
- people
- yeṣhām
- from them
- mānasāḥ
- mind
- chatvāraḥ
- four
- mat bhāvāḥ
- are born from me
- mahā-ṛiṣhayaḥ
- the great Sages
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