प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपिविकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान्
In plain words
Know both Prakṛti and Puruṣa to be beginningless; know also that modifications and guṇas arise from Prakṛti.
Word for word
Prakṛti and puruṣa, know both [to be] beginningless; and know the modifications and the guṇas [to be] born of prakṛti.
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपिविकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान्
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
तत्र सप्तमे ईश्वरस्य द्वे प्रकृती उपन्यस्ते, परापरे क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञलक्षणे ; ‘एतद्योनीनि भूतानि’(भ. गी. ७ । ६) इति च उक्तम् । क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञप्रकृतिद्वययोनित्वं कथं भूतानामिति अयमर्थः अधुना उच्यते —
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव ईश्वरस्य प्रकृती तौ प्रकृतिपुरुषौ उभावपि अनादी विद्धि, न विद्यते आदिः ययोः तौ अनादी । नित्येश्वरत्वात् ईश्वरस्य तत्प्रकृत्योरपि युक्तं नित्यत्वेन भवितुम् । प्रकृतिद्वयवत्त्वमेव हि ईश्वरस्य ईश्वरत्वम् । याभ्यां प्रकृतिभ्याम् ईश्वरः जगदुत्पत्तिस्थितिप्रलयहेतुः, ते द्वे अनादी सत्यौ संसारस्य कारणम् ॥
न आदी अनादी इति तत्पुरुषसमासं केचित् वर्णयन्ति । तेन हि किल ईश्वरस्य कारणत्वं सिध्यति । यदि पुनः प्रकृतिपुरुषावेव नित्यौ स्यातां तत्कृतमेव जगत् न ईश्वरस्य जगतः कर्तृत्वम् । तत् असत् ; प्राक् प्रकृतिपुरुषयोः उत्पत्तेः ईशितव्याभावात् ईश्वरस्य अनीश्वरत्वप्रसङ्गात् , संसारस्य निर्निमित्तत्वे अनिर्मोक्षप्रसङ्गात् शास्त्रानर्थक्यप्रसङ्गात् बन्धमोक्षाभावप्रसङ्गाच्च । नित्यत्वे पुनः ईश्वरस्य प्रकृत्योः सर्वमेतत् उपपन्नं भवेत् । कथम् ?
विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव वक्ष्यमाणान्विकारान् बुद्ध्यादिदेहेन्द्रियान्तान् गुणांश्च सुखदुःखमोहप्रत्ययाकारपरिणतान् विद्धि जानीहि प्रकृतिसम्भवान् , प्रकृतिः ईश्वरस्य विकारकारणशक्तिः त्रिगुणात्मिका माया, सा सम्भवो येषां विकाराणां गुणानां च तान् विकारान् गुणांश्च विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान् प्रकृतिपरिणामान् ॥ १९ ॥
In plain words
Back in the seventh chapter, two natures of the Lord were laid out — one higher, one lower — and they were identified as the field and the knower of the field. It was also said there: these two are the womb of all beings (7.6). Now the point being taken up is this: how exactly is that pair of natures, the field and the knower of the field, the womb from which beings come?
'Prakṛti and puruṣa' — these are simply the Lord's own two forms of nature. Know both of them, matter and spirit together, to be beginningless — meaning there was never a moment when either one began. Because the Lord himself is eternal, it only makes sense that these two natures of his are eternal too. In fact, having these two natures is exactly what makes the Lord the Lord in the first place. Through these very two, he brings the world into being, sustains it, and brings it to an end. And because both are beginningless and genuinely real, they are what actually drives the whole cycle of birth and death.
Some scholars explain the word differently, as a tatpuruṣa compound meaning simply 'not having a beginning.' Their reasoning: this reading, they say, actually secures the Lord's status as cause of the world. But think it through: if prakṛti and puruṣa alone were eternal — and nothing else — then the world would just be their product, and the Lord would not really be its agent at all. That cannot be right. Because before prakṛti and puruṣa ever arose, there would have been nothing at all for the Lord to rule over — which means the Lord would not even count as Lord. And if saṃsāra itself had no real cause, absurd consequences pile up: there would be no way out of it, ever; scripture's entire teaching would become pointless; and both bondage and liberation would simply cease to be real categories at all. But if instead we say the Lord's two natures are themselves eternal, all of this falls neatly into place. How so? —
'The modifications, and the qualities too' — know this, understand this: the modifications about to be described, everything from the intellect down to the body and senses, and the qualities, which turn into the felt experience of pleasure, pain, and delusion, both come from prakṛti. Prakṛti is simply the Lord's own power that produces all modification — it is made of the three guṇas, and this is what we call māyā. She is the very source of both the modifications and the qualities; so know that all of these — every modification, every quality — are born from prakṛti, nothing more than prakṛti's own transformations.
Close to the Sanskrit
There, in the seventh chapter, two natures of the Lord were set forth, the higher and the lower, characterized as the field and the knower of the field; and it was also said, 'beings have these as their womb' (Gītā 7.6). How beings have the pair of natures, the field and the knower of the field, as their womb — this matter is now being stated —
'Prakṛti and puruṣa' — [these are] the Lord's two natures; know both of them, prakṛti and puruṣa, [to be] beginningless — 'there is no beginning of which [these two have]' — [that is what] 'beginningless' [means] for both. Because of the eternality of the Lord, it is fitting also for those two natures of his to be eternal. For possessing these two natures is precisely what constitutes the Lord's very Lordship. By means of which two natures the Lord is the cause of the origination, maintenance, and dissolution of the world — those two, being beginningless and real, [are] the cause of transmigration.
Some explain [the compound] as a tatpuruṣa compound — 'not having a beginning' — thus. For by that [reading], indeed, the Lord's causal status is [said to be] established. If, however, prakṛti and puruṣa alone were eternal, the world would be merely their product — the Lord would not be the agent of the world. That is not so; because, prior to the origination of prakṛti and puruṣa, there would be an absence of anything to be ruled, [entailing] the absurdity of the Lord's not being a Lord; and since transmigration would then be without a cause, [there would follow] the absurdity of there being no liberation, the absurdity of scripture's pointlessness, and the absurdity of the absence of both bondage and liberation. But if, on the other hand, the Lord's two natures are eternal, all this would be well-established. How [so]? —
'Vikārāṃś ca guṇāṃś caiva' [means]: know, [that is,] understand, the modifications — about to be mentioned — from intellect down to body and senses, and the qualities — transformed into the forms of the notions of pleasure, pain, and delusion — [both] to be born from prakṛti. Prakṛti [is] the power of the Lord that is the cause of modification, consisting of the three guṇas, [namely] māyā. She [is] the origin of which modifications and qualities — those modifications and qualities, know [to be] born from prakṛti, [that is] transformations of prakṛti.