Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7, Verse 12

ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये |
मत्त एवेति तान्विद्धि न त्वहं तेषु ते मयि || 12||

ye chaiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāśh cha ye
matta eveti tān viddhi na tvahaṁ teṣhu te mayi

ye—whatever; cha—and; eva—certainly; sāttvikāḥ—in the mode of goodness; bhāvāḥ—states of material existence; rājasāḥ—in the mode of passion; tāmasāḥ—in the mode of ignorance; cha—and; ye—whatever; mattaḥ—from me; eva—certainly; iti—thus; tān—those; viddhi—know; na—not; tu—but; aham—I; teṣhu—in them; te—they; mayi—in me

Translation

BG 7.12: The three states of material existence—goodness, passion, and ignorance—are manifested by My energy. They are in Me, but I am beyond them.

Commentary

In this verse, Shree Krishna sums up His glories that He had described in the previous four verses. He says, “Arjun, I have explained how I am the essence of all objects. But there is no point in going into detail. All good-bad and ugly objects and states of existence are made possible only by My energy.”

Even though the entire creation originates from God, He is beyond His creation and independent of it. A famous poet Alfred Tennyson stated in his poem “In Memorium:”

Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be.
They are but broken lights of thee,
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

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