A core teaching · expansive in mood · a little context helps
“All forms arise from one source, and the divine gives them life.”
O son of Kunti, in all forms of birth, the material nature is the womb, and I am the seed-giving father.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyin all wombs/forms of birth · O son of Kunti · forms/bodies · come into being · which · of those · material nature · great · womb/source · I · seed-giving · father
All living forms come from the same source of nature, while Krishna says he is the seed-giving father behind their coming into being.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga" (The Three Modes of Material Nature).
Verse 4 sits in Chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita — Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga, "The Three Modes of Material Nature". The chapter has 27 verses in total.
You look at a newborn’s face and then at an old family photo, and the same lineage runs through both. Behind every separate life, there is one shared source you rarely notice.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts attention from isolated individuals to the one source from which all forms arise.
What this verse means
All living forms come from the same source of nature, while Krishna says he is the seed-giving father behind their coming into being.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Arjuna is still frozen while Krishna explains how life itself unfolds. After describing nature as the womb of all beings, Krishna says he is the seed-giving father, linking every form of life to a single divine source.
Why this verse still matters
You look at a newborn’s face and then at an old family photo, and the same lineage runs through both. Behind every separate life, there is one shared source you rarely notice.
“You are not isolated from life. Everything that appears is joined by one hidden source.”
Explore related themes: prakriti (31 verses)