सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम् । कल्पक्षये पुनस्तानि कल्पादौ विसृजाम्यहम् ॥
sarvabhūtāni kaunteya prakṛtiṃ yānti māmikām | kalpakṣaye punastāni kalpādau visṛjāmyaham ||
Translation
At the end of a kalpa (cosmic cycle), O son of Kunti, all beings return into My nature. At the beginning of a new kalpa, I send them forth again.
Interpretation
The cosmic rhythm from the Divine's perspective: at the end of a kalpa (cosmic cycle, the period of a Brahma-day), all beings are dissolved back into the Divine's own nature (mamikam prakritim — My nature). At the beginning of a new kalpa, the Divine sends them forth again. This is the Divine as the source and destination of all cosmic cycling. The Divine is not an observer of creation but its very engine — the one who both dissolves and projects. This is the complete cycle of srishti (creation), sthiti (sustenance), and pralaya (dissolution).