Gita 09.19 – In Krishna contradictions are transcended and reconciled
tapāmy aham ahaṁ varṣaṁ
nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca
amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca
sad asac cāham arjuna (Bg 9.19)
Word-to-word:
tapāmi — give heat; aham — I; aham — I; varṣam — rain; nigṛhṇāmi — withhold; utsṛjāmi — send forth; ca — and; amṛtam — immortality; ca — and; eva — certainly; mṛtyuḥ — death; ca — and; sat — spirit; asat — matter; ca — and; aham — I; arjuna — O Arjuna.
Translation:
O Arjuna, I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain. I am immortality, and I am also death personified. Both spirit and matter are in Me.
Explanation:
tapāmy aham ahaṁ varṣaṁ: I give heat, and I give rain
nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca: I withhold it, and I send it forth
amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca: I am immortality, and I am death also
sad asac cāham arjuna: I am the temporary, and I am the eternal, O Arjuna
This verse addresses the theme of how apparent contradictions are reconciled and transcended in the Absolute. Three sets of such contradictions are described.
The sun gives heat, and through that heat, it evaporates water from the oceans. In contrast, rain supplies water and sustains life. Kṛṣṇa says that it is He, as the sun, who gives heat, and it is He who gives rain. He also states that He both withholds the rain and releases it. Withholding rain continues the same principle of withdrawal, just as water is drawn up by the sun through evaporation.
The next two contradictions are even more direct. Kṛṣṇa says that He is immortality and He is death as well (amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca). Ordinarily, life and death are understood to be opposites, mutually exclusive of one another.
He then states, sad asac cāham arjuna. Sat and asat can sometimes be understood as true and false, but they also refer to the eternal and the temporary. This meaning is explained in Bhagavad-gītā 2.16: nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ—of the temporary, the material body, there is no endurance, and of the eternal, the soul, there is no cessation.
What is being stated here is that Kṛṣṇa is the person in whom all contradictions are resolved. How are we to understand this? Ordinarily, we think in terms of dualities—this is good, this is bad; this is material, this is spiritual. Such distinctions are important as an initial analytical framework for aspiring spiritualists.
By distinguishing between the material and the spiritual, we learn to focus on the spiritual while appropriately situating the material in relation to it. This process helps us harmonize the material with the spiritual rather than becoming entangled in material dualities.
At the same time, we must understand that from a higher vision, the material and the spiritual are not merely separated; they are also integrated—not in nature, but in purpose. This means that both the material and the spiritual are seen as originating from the same transcendental source.
Both are understood to be energies of Kṛṣṇa. When they are perceived in this way, as connected to their source, and when we understand that the energies are, in a sense, non-different from the energetic, it becomes clear that it is Kṛṣṇa who manifests as the temporary, and it is Kṛṣṇa who manifests as the eternal.
Contradictions are reconciled by taking shelter of the one who is beyond contradictions. In Kṛṣṇa, there is no fundamental division between the material and the spiritual, because both are His energies, and both function under His control, serving His purpose. Of course, the manner in which they serve that purpose differs. Still, the essential principle remains that both ultimately serve His will.
Kṛṣṇa says amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca—I am deathlessness, and I am death. Later, in the Eleventh Chapter, He declares kālo ’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho (11.32)—“Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds.” In the Tenth Chapter titled Vibhūti-yoga, He also states aham evākṣayaḥ kālaḥ (10.33)—“I am indestructible time.” Ultimately, no matter how much we achieve or how much we conquer, the conqueror of all conquerors will still conquer us through death. In this sense, death stands as the supreme conqueror. This supremacy of the Absolute Truth, manifested as death, is conveyed in this verse when Kṛṣṇa says “amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca.”
It is not that God is cruel or that He wishes to separate us from our loved ones. Rather, God is our eternal master, and we are His eternal servants, always under His control. He brings about the destruction of the temporary in order to make way for the eternal. When we clearly perceive the inevitable destructibility of temporary things, we are impelled to redirect our hearts toward the eternal. In this way, even His destructive manifestation serves a beneficial purpose.
At the same time, He is also the giver of immortality. It is He who delivers the sādhakas to the spiritual world. It is He who fulfills the promise teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt—He who rescues His devotees from the ocean of birth and death. As beautifully stated in 12.7, He raises us and lifts us out of material existence, carrying us to His eternal abode. In this way, it is He alone who grants deathlessness.
Further, even within this material world, there are mechanisms by which the sun gives light and mechanisms by which the clouds give rain. Science focuses on these mechanisms, and the materialistic worldview sees them as operating according to impersonal laws. The Vedic vision, however, perceives conscious agents behind these processes. For instance, above Sūrya, above Indra, and above all such empowered beings stands the Supreme Person.
Thus, Kṛṣṇa reconciles all apparent contradictions within Himself. By His supreme existence, which is transcendental to all worldly dualities, He integrates and harmonizes everything that appears contradictory at the material level.
Thank you.
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