भूतग्रामः स एवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलीयते ।रात्र्यागमेऽवशः पार्थ प्रभवत्यहरागमे ॥
bhūtagrāmaḥ sa evāyaṃ bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate | rātryāgame 'vaśaḥ pārtha prabhavaty aharāgame ||
- भूतग्रामः · bhūtagrāmaḥ
- the host of beings
- सः एव अयम् · sa evāyam
- this very same
- भूत्वा भूत्वा · bhūtvā bhūtvā
- coming into being again and again
- प्रलीयते · pralīyate
- dissolves
- रात्र्यागमे · rātryāgame
- at the coming of night
- अवशः · avaśaḥ
- helpless, not free
- पार्थ · pārtha
- O Partha
- प्रभवति · prabhavati
- comes forth
- अहरागमे · aharāgame
- at the coming of day
“This same host of beings, coming forth again and again, dissolves helplessly at the coming of night, O Partha, and comes forth again at the coming of day.”
— Original plain-language translation
Helplessness is the key word: beings do not choose this cycling but are carried by it. Compulsion, not freedom, defines life inside the lower rhythm. The pathos here motivates the search for the imperishable beyond.
— Reader's notes (original)