Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 8, Verse 17
Verse 17
Hard VerseThe Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman
By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahma's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.
Context & Meaning
Krishna frames the staggering scale of cosmic time. One day of Brahma — the creator — equals one thousand yugas (ages), and his night is equally vast. What we call eternity is still within time. Even the lifespan of the universe is finite. Only the Supreme endures beyond it all.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
AdvaitaThe cosmic time-scale is presented to relativize human conceptions of permanence. Even Brahmaloka — which seems eternal from a human perspective — is measured and temporary. True eternity belongs to Brahman alone.