Bhagavad Gita · 15.16 · The Yoga of the Supreme Divine Personality·16 of 20
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च।क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥
dvāv imau puruṣhau loke kṣharaśh chākṣhara eva cha
kṣharaḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭa-stho ’kṣhara uchyate
Sanskrit recitation
The supreme person · 15.12–15.20 · Teaching
Translation
Two Purushas there are in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are perishable, and the Kutastha—the unchanging—is called the imperishable.
Meaning
Now the Lord describes the three aspects of the divine existence. One is the individual soul called the perishable, the second is the imperishable or the Maya Sakti of the Lord and the third is the Purushottama or the Supreme Being.The perishable comprises the whole world of changing forms. From Brahma down to the tiny blade of grass, all movable and immovable objects, all that can be thought of by the mind, all that is made up of the five elements, all that is changing, all that has names and forms, all that appears to the naked eye and what is described as the body and the modifications of the field, in the thirteenth chapter, are Kshara or the perishable. Kshara is the changing one. It is the everchanging form of matter which is inert or insentient. Akshara is the changeless.In Samsara there are two categories arranged in two separate groups of beings, called Purushas, as they are the limiting adjuncts of the Purusha. Maya Sakti, the illusory power of the Lord, is the seed from which the perishable being takes its birth. It is the seat of all the latent impressions of desires, actions, etc., of various perishable creatures. Maya Sakti is the Akshara Purusha. The unmanifest condition is generally described as deep ignorance or sleep for there is neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. It is only a potential state
After Swami Sivananda
The supreme person· 15.12–15.20→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 15.12That light which resides in the sun, illuminating the whole world; that which is in the moon and in the fire—know that light to be Mine.
- 15.13Permeating the earth, I support all beings with My energy; and having become the watery moon, I nourish all herbs.
- 15.14Having become the fire Vaisvanara, I abide in the bodies of living beings and, associated with the Prana and the Apana, digest the fourfold food.
- 15.15And I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory and knowledge, as well as their absence. I am verily That which has to be known by all the Vedas; I am indeed the author of the Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.
15.16Two Purushas there are in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are perishable, and the Kutastha—the unchanging—is called the imperishable.
- 15.17But distinct is the Supreme Purusha, called the highest Self, indestructible and Lord, who pervades the three worlds and sustains them.
- 15.18As I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the imperishable, I am declared to be the highest Purusha in the world and in the Vedas.
- 15.19He who, undeluded, knows Me as the highest Purusha, he, knowing all, worships Me with his whole being (heart), O Arjuna.
- 15.20Thus, I have imparted to you this most secret science, O sinless one; by knowing this, one becomes wise, and all their duties are accomplished, O Arjuna.
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- eva
- even
- dvau
- two
- imau
- these
- loke
- in creation
- uchyate
- is said
- bhūtāni
- beings
- puruṣhau
- beings
- sarvāṇi
- all
- kṣharaḥ
- the perishable
- akṣharaḥ
- the imperishable
- kūṭa-sthaḥ
- the liberated
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