8.19 Helplessly, again and again Krishna speaks

भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते
रात्र्यागमेऽवशः पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे

bhūta-grāmaḥ sa evāyaṁ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate
rātryāgame ’vaśhaḥ pārtha prabhavatyahar-āgame

This same multitude of beings comes into being again and again, and again and again dissolves, helplessly, at the coming of night.

Explanation

The word to notice is helplessly.

avaśaḥ — without say in the matter. The same beings, again and again, with no choice in either the arriving or the dissolving.

Everything in the chapter so far has been about what a person can prepare, practise and hold. Set against that, this verse describes the default: the cycle runs whether or not anyone attends to it. What is on offer is not freedom from the cycle existing, but freedom from being carried by it unawares.

Word by word

bhūta-grāmaḥ: the multitude of beings
saḥ: these
eva: certainly
ayam: this
bhūtvā bhūtvā: repeatedly taking birth
pralīyate: dissolves
rātri-āgame: with the advent of night
avaśhaḥ: helpless
pārtha: Arjun, the son of Pritha
prabhavati: become manifest
ahaḥ-āgame: with the advent of day