Verse 2.139

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

मत्तः सर्वमिदं जातं मय्येवान्ते प्रलीयते ।
अहमेको बिभर्मीदमित्येवं च प्रसिध्यति ॥ १३९ ॥

mattaḥ sarvamidaṃ jātaṃ mayyevānte pralīyate |
ahameko bibharmīdamityevaṃ ca prasidhyati || 139 ||

English translation of verse 2.139:

“From me all this came into existence; in me alone it will be dissolved in the end; I alone support this world”—thus (from this statement) also (the identity of Brahman and Ātman) is established.

Notes:

The Upaniṣads refer to Brahman as the cause of the world. There is, for example, the Taittirīya text (III, i, 1) which says: “Crave to know that from which all these beings are born, that by which they live after being born, that towards which they move and into which they merge. That is Brahman.” The Self, too, is said to be the cause of the world. There is, for instance, the Aitareya text (I, i, 1): “The Self, verily, was ail this, one only, in the beginning.” From this one may think that the world has two causes, viz., Brahman and the Self. But inasmuch as there cannot be two causes for one and the same effect, it must be understood that one and the same cause is spoken of as Brahman in some places and also as Ātman in some other places with a view to emphasize the non-difference of Brahman and Ātman.