These 5 Shlokas of Gita Explain Entropy and the Universe

Why does life exist?

If you are following me from the start, you have always noticed that I never said about the spiritual and mythological talks instead I always yap about the tech stuffs. But as a PCM student, you must always revise the things you left out so I went through thermodynamics and came to the second law which says the entropy of the universe is always increasing.

It got me thinking: We receive low-entropy, and with concentrated energy from the sun, use it for useful work, and radiate back with high entropy, but where does the sun get this low entropy?

These intrinsic thought processes led me deeper, stumbling into answers like BigBang, Quantum fluctuation, singularity, String Theory, inflation, and many more which are far beyond my understanding.

But this left me wondering — what if the answers are already given easily and understandably, in the Hindu mythological Bhagvat gita — a scripture with 700 shlokas (verses) which is the talk between Lord Krishna and Khsatriya(Warrior class) in the field of war between Brothers that often regarded as a spiritual guide, holds insights into these profound mysteries?

So in this article, we will understand the 6 key shlokas of the Gita that surprisingly and metaphorically explain the concept of entropy revealing what really time complexities, the forces, and the transformations to balance the order and disorder in the universe.

What is Entropy?

For those who don't know what entropy is, it is the measure of the disorderliness and randomness in the system. Entropy helps explain the phenomena of the universe, like why energy flows, why time flows forward, and why the universe always moves towards increasing chaos.

The Second law of thermodynamics is one of the most fundamental concepts that explain the universe.

In simple terms, it explains why any process in nature tends to move from a state of order to disorder automatically, for example:

A neatly created stack of paper, if left undisturbed, might scatter over time — but reversible never happens spontaneously we just need extra energy to stack them again.

The increase in entropy is a natural phenomenon.

In a cosmic context, it tells why time moves in one direction, why the sun burns out, and why the universe always moves to a greater extent. So entropy is not just a physical concept but it is a metaphor for the deep truths about the existence of life, energy, and the cycles of dissolution.

Bridging between Entropy and Gita

The second law of thermodynamics tells us about entropy or the disorders always been increasing but The Bhagavad Gita, though spiritual, mirrors this principle in its teachings on impermanence, creation, destruction, and balance.

The Six Shlokas

1. The Eternal Nature of Reality

na tvevāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ
na chaiva na bhaviṣhyāmaḥ sarve vayamataḥ param

In the Gita, Krishna says:

“Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.”
(Bhagavad Gita 2.12)

This suggests that existence is eternal — that means there is no beginning, no end The cycle of creation and dissolution(Sristhi and Pralaya) mirrors scientific ideas such as an Eternal multiverse or Cyclic universe theory.

Cyclic Universe Theory: A modern cosmological theory which resonates with

Big Bang and Big Crunch: This theory posits that the universe goes through the infinite cycles of Big Bang(Expansion) and Big Crunch(Contraction). Each cycle is responsible for the creation (Srishti) of a new universe and its eventual dissolution (Pralaya) in an eternal loop.
No Beginning or End: The above theory implies the same with the Lord Krishna’s statement “Never there is a time beings never existed” — it’s just a cycle of creations and destructions happening, there is no singular starting.

2. Creation and Dissolution (Entropy and Order)

avyaktad vyaktayah sarvah prabhavantyahar-agame
ratryagame praliyante tatraivavyakta-sanjnake

Krishna states in Bhagavad Gita 8.18:
“From unmanifest, all manifest beings come into existence at the beginning of creation. At the time of dissolution, they merge back into the unmanifest.”

This suggests:

Creation(Manifestation): All forms and beings are manifested from a single entity known as Brahman, following it formed a rising in the foundational state.
Dissolution (Merging): At the cosmic cycle end, all beings or entities merge which reflects a return to a primordial state.

Both of them resonate with the fact that low entropy(orderness) causes the creation and high entropy(chaos) leads to the dissolution or merging. The cycle of creation and destruction aligns with both spiritual and scientific worldviews.

3. Time and Eternity

shri-bhagavan uvacha
kalo ’smi loka-kshaya-krit pravriddho
lokan samahartum iha pravrittah
rite ’pi tvam na bhavishyanti sarve
ye ’vasthitah pratyanikeshu yodhah

Krishna identifies himself with time (Kala):

“I am Time, the destroyer of worlds.”
(Bhagavad Gita 11.32)

This profound statement tells us deep and philosophical aspects of life and order. It tells us creation, sustenance, and destruction of the world.

In the Gita, Lord Krishna reveals his cosmic form to Arjuna, showing the vastness and impermanence of the material world.

“Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds” is a famous sentence told by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who was part of the team that developed the first nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project quoted this line from the Bhagavad Gita after witnessing the first successful test of the atomic bomb, which reflects Lord Krishna’s role as the ultimate force governing the creation, preservation, and destruction cycle.
Time as Kala(Eternal Time): In this particular shloka Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that if he doesn't fight or vanish the people then Time will, because in the materialistic world time is the only truth that is the force driving the change, change in the sense of creation, destructions of the world of new beginnings.

By observing it from the Scientific perspective then we see that, in modern science entropy also works similarly to time, as time moves in one direction similarly, entropy moves the system from orderliness to disorderliness(Creation to Destruction).

The same shloka also resonates with astronomical events like the birth and death of stars, universes, and galaxies. Just as stars explode in supernovas to create heavier elements, destruction is necessary for renewal.

In Hinduism, there is an idiom which goes like

Jo hota h ache ke liye hota hai

The phrase symbolizes What happens, happens for the good and it means that how destruction is not inherently negative but a part of the universal cycle, necessary for progress and growth.

Interestingly, Krishna says that time is not the ultimate truth; it is just a part of Maya(illusion)

Time as a Maya(illusion):- Time is just an illusion, the ultimate reality is the Atma(self) and Brahman(absolute) which remains eternal and subtle throughout the cycles of creation and destruction, but in the materialistic world, time flows from past to future linearly. To find the reality or the ultimate reality then one must seek to understand the Atma — the true self — because it transcends the limitations of time and the material world.

4. Unity of All Things

aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah

The profound statement tells us that the beginning and the ending of everything in this world whether it is small atoms to big cosmological events all are sourced from me(Lord Krishna) which is a singular divine source.

This theory closely mirrors various scientific theories such as unified field theory in physics. The unified field theory seeks to explain how all fundamental forces of nature — gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear — emerge from a single, underlying reality.

Both teachings convey the same idea that everything big or small matter emerges from a single, or unified whole.

Despite Krishna being the source of everything, this doesn't mean that he is restricted by time, space, or the material world that he brought to existence. He identifies himself as both immanent (present within creation or inside me or you) and transcendent (beyond it).

5. The Nature of the Universe

mayadhyakshena prakritih suyate sa-characharam
hetunanena kaunteya jagad viparivartate

The Gita describes cycles of manifestation and unmanifestation:

“The entire universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All living beings exist in Me, but I am not limited by them.”
(Bhagavad Gita 9.4)

This underlying and profound statement conveys that the universe, in all diversity, originates from and is sustained by a deeper, unmanifest reality.

Let me explain this with an example which is of a seed, a seed holds the potential to grow into a tree, but until it grows, it remains unseen from the ground. Similarly, Krishna’s unmanifest form is like the seed of the universe, holding the power to create, sustain, and dissolve everything. His unmanifest form is the ultimate reality.

This means that everything we see in our surroundings including us is manifested or came from a deeper reality, which is untouched or seen. Lord Krishna manifests this “unmanifest form” as a state where all possibilities of creation exist, like multiverse, parallel universes, quantum superposition, and various timeless realities.

This idea parallels the idea of modern scientific concepts such as the quantum foam — the concept of quantum mechanics that describes the quantum fluctuations of spacetime on microscopically small scales. While quantum foam does not directly “create” particles, it suggests a dynamic, foundational state of reality. Similarly, the pre-Big Bang state, as hypothesized by some theories, represents a realm where latent possibilities existed before manifesting as the observable universe.

Conclusion

Finally, I have an idiom that explains life in the form of entropy.

It’s not about the beginning or the end but the process, the transition, where all the interesting dynamics happen, so between the transition let’s make things to the top

By wrapping up these, I want to say that the Bhagavad Gita presents profound insights into the nature of existence, time, and the universe, many of which resonate with scientific theories. Lord Krishna’s teachings on the cycles of manifestations and manifestations suggest that all things emerge from a deeper, unseen, and untouchable reality — much like how scientific theories such as quantum foam and the pre-BigBang state that our universe emerges from an underlying, potential state.