महर्षयः सप्त पूर्वे चत्वारो मनवस्तथा ।मद्भावा मानसा जाता येषां लोक इमाः प्रजाः ॥
maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve catvāro manavastathāmadbhāvā mānasā jātā yeṣāṃ loka imāḥ prajāḥ
The great Rishis, the seven Ancients of the worlds, and also the four Manus, are my mental becomings; from them are all these living creatures in the world.
Gītā 10·6The great Rishis, called here as in the Veda the seven original Seers, maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve, the seven Ancients of the world, are intelligence-powers of that divine Wisdom which has evolved all things out of its own self-conscious infinitude, prajñā purāṇi—developed them down the range of the seven principles of its own essence. These Rishis embody the all-upholding, all-illumining, all-manifesting seven Thoughts of the Veda, sapta dhiyaḥ,—the Upanishad speaks of all things as being arranged in septettes, sapta sapta. Along with these are coupled the four eternal Manus, fathers of man,—for the active nature of the Godhead is fourfold and humanity expresses this nature in its fourfold character. These also, as their name implies, are mental beings. Creators of all this life that depends on manifest or latent mind for its action, from them are all these living creatures in the world; all are their children and offspring, yeṣām loke imāḥ prajāḥ. And these great Rishis and these Manus are themselves perpetual mental becomings of the supreme Soul and born out of his spiritual transcendence into cosmic Nature,—originators, but he the origin of all that originates in the universe. Spirit of all spirits, Soul of all souls, Mind of all mind, Life of all life, Substance of all form, this transcendent Absolute is no complete opposite of all we are, but on the contrary the originating and illuminating Absolute of all the principles and powers of our and the world’s being and nature.
