Bhagavad Gita 9.10: meaning and translation
Chapter 9: Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga. Krishna says
Krishna explains how he can create and yet stay neutral.
Click or tap a word for its meaning and its dictionary page.
Text and layers
Text and layers
These choices stay in this browser.
Bhagavad Gita 9.10
मयाऽध्यक्षेण प्रकृतिः सूयते सचराचरम् ।हेतुनाऽनेन कौन्तेय जगद्विपरिवर्तते ॥
Mayadhyakshena prakritih suyate sacharacharamHetunanena kaunteya jagadviparivartate
mayā’dhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram |hetunā’nena kaunteya jagadviparivartate ||
Our explanation Krishna explains how he can create and yet stay neutral. With him as the overseer (adhyakṣa), nature gives birth to all that moves and all that does not move, and for this reason the world keeps turning.
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण समझाते हैं कि वे सृष्टि करते हुए भी तटस्थ कैसे रहते हैं। उनकी अध्यक्षता (देखरेख) में प्रकृति सब चर और अचर को जन्म देती है, और इसी कारण संसार का चक्र चलता रहता है।
Word by word
Every word, with its dictionary page
Word by word
- मया mayā · by "me" (Krishna) (pronoun, instrumental singular) Dictionary: 1. mad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 777, col. 2 “base of the first pers. pron. in the sg. number (esp. in comp.)”
- अध्यक्षेण adhyakṣeṇa · as overseer (noun (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: adhy-akṣa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 23, col. 1 “an inspector, superintendent”
- प्रकृतिः prakṛtiḥ · nature (noun (feminine), nominative singular) Dictionary: pra-kṛti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 654, col. 1 “nature, character, constitution, temper, disposition”
- सूयते sūyate · brings forth (present (middle), 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 2. sū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1240, col. 1 “to beget, procreate, bring forth, bear, produce, yield”
- सचराचरम् sacarācaram · all that moves and does not move (compound (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: sa-carācara, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1130, col. 3 “comprehending everything moving and motionless”
- हेतुना hetunā · reason, cause (noun (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: hetu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1303, col. 3 “motive, cause, cause of, reason for”
- अनेन anena · this (pronoun (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2
- कौन्तेय kaunteya · O son of Kunti (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: kaunteya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 316, col. 2 “metron. fr. Kuntī”
- जगत् jagat · the world (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: jagat, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 408, col. 1 “the world, esp. this world, earth”
- विपरिवर्तते viparivartate · turns round, revolves (present (middle), 3rd person singular) Dictionary: vi-pari-vṛt, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 974, col. 1 “to turn round, revolve”
1 printing differs
Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.
- Spelling A digital text reads Same words. The 1922 edition marks the merged vowels with avagraha (मयाऽध्यक्षेण, हेतुनाऽनेन); the e-text writes मयाध्यक्षेण, हेतुनानेन, as another digital text does.
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 82.
Nature gives birth to movables and immovables through me, the supervisor, and by reason of that1, O son of Kuntî! the universe revolves.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - Viz. the supervision. ↩
Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 82.
Nature gives birth to movables and immovables through me, the supervisor, and by reason of that1, O son of Kuntî! the universe revolves.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - Viz. the supervision. ↩
You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 88–89.
By My presiding, Prakriti sends forth the moving and unmoving; because of this, O Kaunteya, the universe revolves.
You are reading this one
Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 179–180.
By reason of My proximity, Prakriti produces all this, the moving and the unmoving; the world wheels round and round, O son of Kunti, because of this.
You are reading this one
Cite this verse
The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 82. Bhagavad Gita 9.10.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), pp. 88–89. Bhagavad Gita 9.10.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), pp. 179–180. Bhagavad Gita 9.10.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 9.10: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 27, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/9/10/
Pujadeep’s explanations are free to quote with credit: name Pujadeep and link to the page. How to credit
Classical readings, by school
No readings by school on this verse yet.
Share
Show the ways to share
Send one picture or the text to one chat. The picture names its source and the address of this page.
Drawing the picture
See the words
Bhagavad Gita 9.10
मयाऽध्यक्षेण प्रकृतिः सूयते सचराचरम् ।
हेतुनाऽनेन कौन्तेय जगद्विपरिवर्तते ॥
“Nature gives birth to movables and immovables through me, the supervisor, and by reason of that, O son of Kuntî! the universe revolves.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 82, public domain)
“By My presiding, Prakriti sends forth the moving and unmoving; because of this, O Kaunteya, the universe revolves.”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), pp. 88–89, public domain)
“By reason of My proximity, Prakriti produces all this, the moving and the unmoving; the world wheels round and round, O son of Kunti, because of this.”
(Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), pp. 179–180, public domain)
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/9/10/ Nothing is sent from this site. Your own app sends it, to the chat you choose. The picture quotes the translation you chose on this page, with its name and year.
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
Questions families ask
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 9.10?
Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 9 (Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga).
Where does the Sanskrit text come from?
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Is the meaning on this page a translation?
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Source and licence
- Sanskrit text
- The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
- Translation
- The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Common wording
- In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.
- Updated
- October 27, 2026