मयाध्यक्षेण प्रकृतिः सूयते सचराचरम् | हेतुनानेन कौन्तेय जगद्विपरिवर्तते ||१०||
mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram | hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate || 10 ||
Under My supervision, prakriti produces all that moves and is unmoving — by this cause, the world revolves.
Word by word (3)
- mayā adhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram
- — Under My supervision, prakriti produces all that moves and is unmoving · mayā adhyakṣeṇa = by Me as the overseer/supervisor (mayā = by Me, instrumental of aham; adhyakṣa = overseer, supervisor, superintendent — adhi = above/over + akṣa = eye/axis; adhyakṣa = 'one who watches over,' an overseeing authority; adhyakṣeṇa = instrumental — 'by Me as the supervisor'). prakṛtiḥ = prakriti (the primal creative nature — the same māmikā prakṛti of V7-V8). sūyate = produces, gives birth to (√sū or √sūy = to give birth, to produce, to project; sūyate = passive form — 'is produced,' or active 'produces'; here: prakriti, under My supervision, produces/gives birth to). sa-carācaram = both the moving and the unmoving (sa = with; cara = moving — from √car = to move; acara = not moving, stationary — sa-carācaram = 'together, the moving and the unmoving,' meaning all of manifest existence: living beings that move (cara) and inert matter that does not (acara)). V10's first half: under My oversight (mayādhyakṣeṇa), prakriti produces (sūyate) the entire manifest world — moving beings (animals, humans, plants — cara) and unmoving matter (mountains, rocks, rivers — acara). The divine's role is adhyakṣa (overseer), not the direct agent of production — prakriti produces, but under divine oversight.
- hetunā anena kaunteya jagat viparivartate
- — By this cause, O son of Kunti, the world revolves · hetunā anena = by this cause (hetu = cause, reason — from √hi = to impel; hetunā = instrumental, 'by the cause'; anena = 'this, this here' — 'by THIS cause'). kaunteya = O son of Kunti (Arjuna). jagat = the world (jagat = the moving world, the manifest universe — from √gam = to move). viparivartate = revolves, moves round and round (vi + pari + √vṛt = to revolve thoroughly, to turn completely around; viparivartate = 'revolves,' 'goes around'; the image is of a wheel or cycle — the world continually revolves). V10's second half: hetunā anena (by this cause — i.e., by the prakriti-under-divine-supervision described in V10a), the world (jagat) continually revolves (viparivartate). 'The world revolves' = the ongoing cosmic cycle of creation, maintenance, dissolution. The cause of the world's revolving is precisely the mayādhyakṣeṇa (divine oversight) + svaṃ prakṛtim (the divine's own prakriti) operating together. This completes V7-V10's complete cosmogony section: V7 = what happens (cycle); V8 = the mechanism (I control My prakriti); V9 = the divine's freedom (not bound by these acts); V10 = the reason the world revolves (prakriti under divine oversight = the world's causal engine).
- mayādhyakṣeṇa — by Me as overseer (not direct agent)
- — V10's adhyakṣa (overseer/supervisor) is a theologically precise term — the divine supervises creation without being its direct mechanical cause · Adhyakṣa (overseer, superintendent) is a precise term in ancient Indian administrative and philosophical language. In administrative usage, the adhyakṣa is the supervising official who oversees a department without doing its daily work directly. In philosophy, Brahman or the divine as adhyakṣa (overseer) means: the divine provides the presiding consciousness and ordering intelligence under which prakriti operates — but prakriti is the proximate cause of manifestation, not Brahman directly. This resolves the theological problem: 'If God created the world, who created evil?' V10's answer: the divine oversees (adhyakṣa) but does not directly produce evil — prakriti (the three guṇas, including tamas which produces ignorance and rajas which produces desire) produces the variety of manifest experience under divine oversight. The divine is the first cause (mayā adhyakṣeṇa), prakriti is the proximate cause (prakṛtiḥ sūyate). SW's rendering 'By reason of My proximity' (from the older edition) captures a different but related interpretation: brahman's mere presence (sānnidhyāt) is the cause of prakriti's activity — like the sun that does not directly move the world but whose presence enables all activity. Both interpretations (adhyakṣa = overseer; sānnidhya = proximity-effect) point to the same teaching: the divine is the ultimate cause without being the direct mechanical cause — an important theological distinction.
V10 completes the V7-V10 cosmogony section: under My supervision (mayādhyakṣeṇa), prakriti (the divine's own creative matrix) produces all manifest existence — moving beings (cara) and unmoving matter (acara). By THIS cause (hetunā anena — the prakriti-under-divine-oversight mechanism), the world continually revolves (jagat viparivartate). V10 gives the cosmic reason for the world's cycling: it is prakriti operating under divine oversight, not blind mechanism and not direct divine production. The divine is the overseer; prakriti is the operative cause.
A modern analogy
V10's adhyakṣa model parallels the role of a central bank or regulatory authority in an economy: the central bank sets the overall framework (interest rates, money supply, regulatory rules) within which all economic activity occurs. Individual actors (prakriti's guṇas) operate according to their own dynamics within that framework. The central bank does not directly cause every transaction — but its supervisory presence (adhyakṣa) is the causal ground for the economy's functioning. V10's divine is the cosmic central bank of existence.
What it does NOT mean
V10's mayādhyakṣeṇa (under My supervision) does not mean every detail of the manifest world is directly willed by the divine. The adhyakṣa (overseer) model preserves both divine sovereignty (the ultimate cause is divine) and natural causation (prakriti operates according to its own laws — the three guṇas, karma, etc.). This resolves the theological problem of 'why does God allow evil': the divine oversees but does not micromanage — prakriti's tamas produces ignorance, rajas produces desire, sattva produces clarity, all within the divine's overall supervision.
Take with you
- V10's jagat viparivartate (the world revolves) as an acceptance teaching: the world's continuous revolving — seasons change, circumstances shift, what rises falls — is not chaos or abandonment but the prakriti operating under divine oversight. When change feels destabilizing, V10's teaching: 'By this cause, the world revolves' — it is the divine's oversight of prakriti that produces this change, not random chaos.
- V10's cara-acara (moving and unmoving) as a complete vision: prakriti produces everything — the human who moves through a lifetime AND the mountain that sits for eons — both within the divine oversight. Nothing in the manifest world is outside this oversight. V10 makes the divine's supervision universal: 'Under My oversight, all of this — all of it — is produced.'
- V10 completing the V7-V10 arc as a four-step cosmogony: V7 (cycle announced) → V8 (mechanism: I control prakriti) → V9 (divine freedom: not bound by these acts) → V10 (causal explanation: prakriti under oversight = the world's revolving cause). Read all four together as a complete account of 'how the world works' from Ch.9's perspective.
V9.10 is the closing verse of Ch.9's opening cosmology section (V4-V10) — it provides the causal mechanism that explains V4-V6's metaphysical paradox: how can all beings be in the Supreme (mat-sthāni, V4) while the Supreme is not in them (na teṣu avasthitaḥ, V4)? V10 answers: the Supreme is the adhyakṣa (overseer) under whose supervision prakriti produces all manifest existence. The Supreme is not 'in' beings as a constituent part — it is the overseeing cause that makes prakriti's production possible. The adhyakṣa (overseer) model is one of the Gita's most theologically nuanced positions: - It preserves divine sovereignty: the world would not exist without the divine's oversight - It preserves natural causation: prakriti operates according to its own laws (the three guṇas) - It addresses the problem of evil: the divine does not directly produce evil but oversees a prakriti that includes tamas (ignorance) and rajas (desire) as part of its creative range - It grounds V9.9's udāsīnavat: the adhyakṣa (overseer) naturally sits apart from the operation it oversees — this is the divine's udāsīnavat quality expressed in cosmic administrative terms Swarupananda's rendering 'by reason of My proximity' reflects Shankaracharya's sānnidhya interpretation: Brahman's mere presence (like the sun's presence causing all life without directly causing any particular life-event) is the cause of prakriti's activity. Telang and Judge render adhyakṣa as 'superintendent/supervisor' — both interpretations are valid and complementary. V10's hetunā anena (by THIS cause) closes the loop: the cause of the world's revolving is precisely this — prakriti operating under divine supervision, not blind mechanism and not direct divine creation.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: mayādhyakṣeṇa = by Brahman's sānnidhya (proximity/presence) — Brahman is the cause not by direct action but by its presence which 'animates' prakriti (like a magnet animating iron without touching it). This is the Advaita position on creation: Brahman is not actually modified or involved in creation (nirvikāra — without modification); prakriti (māyā) operates autonomously in Brahman's presence. viparivartate = the world's revolving is the saṃsāra cycle, which arises from avidyā (ignorance of Brahman's nature) operating within prakriti.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions, mayādhyakṣeṇa shows that the divine is present to and engaged with creation at every moment — not a distant deist creator who set the world running and left. The adhyakṣa is a continuous supervisory presence, moment by moment. This supports the devotee's experience of the divine as personally available (V9.22's yogakṣema = the divine's active provision for the devoted).
Karma-Yoga lens
V10's world-revolving-under-divine-oversight is the karma yogi's working context: I act within a world that revolves under divine supervision. My actions contribute to the world's revolving — either perpetuating the avaśam cycle (V8's conditioning) or contributing to loka-saṃgraha (the world's welfare, V3.20-V3.25). The karma yogi's action is not futile but is participating in the divine's own cause (hetunā anena) of the world's revolving.
Modern parallels
V10's adhyakṣa (overseer/supervisor) model of the divine-prakriti relationship parallels the concept of 'downward causation' in philosophy of science: higher-level structures (the divine's supervisory framework) causally constrain and shape lower-level processes (prakriti's guṇa dynamics) without determining their specific micro-level outcomes. This is distinct from both deism (God as a first cause who then leaves) and occasionalism (God directly causing every event). V10's model: the divine provides the supervisory framework within which prakriti's causal processes operate.
Practice
V10 adhyakṣa meditation: sit quietly. Observe the arising and passing of thoughts, sensations, images. Notice that you, the observer/awareness, are not producing these — they arise from 'prakriti' (the mind-body system) while you, the witnessing awareness, are adhyakṣa (the overseer). Rest in the adhyakṣa position: present, aware, overseeing — but not the direct mechanical cause of what arises. This is the cosmic adhyakṣa model compressed into the individual meditation sit.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
By reason of My proximity, Prakriti produces all this, the moving and the un-moving; the world wheels round and round, O son of Kunti, because of this. [4]
Under my guidance, nature gives birth to all things, animate and inanimate; and on this account the world revolves, O son of Kunti. [6]
All things hang on Me As clustered pearls are strung on Me. I am the Taste in water; I the light In Moons and Suns; I am the Word of Power In Vedas; I the Sound in Ether; I the Manhood in mankind; [7]
With me as superintendent, nature produces both the movable and immovable, and, O son of Kunti! on this account the world revolves. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Projecting this vast multitude from My own prakriti again and again — I animate them, helpless under prakriti's sway.
These acts do not bind Me — I sit as one uninvolved, unattached to them, O Dhananjaya.
Brahman: hands, feet, eyes, heads, mouths, ears everywhere — enveloping and pervading the entire universe.
Bow down, arrows scattered, warrior collapsed — this is where the Gita begins.
I am your student. My mind is bewildered about what is right. Teach me.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.