Bhagavad Gita · 15.17 · The Yoga of the Supreme Divine Personality·17 of 20
उत्तमः पुरुषस्त्वन्यः परमात्मेत्युदाहृतः।यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः ॥
uttamaḥ puruṣhas tv anyaḥ paramātmety udāhṛitaḥ
yo loka-trayam āviśhya bibharty avyaya īśhvaraḥ
Sanskrit recitation
The supreme person · 15.12–15.20 · Teaching
Translation
But distinct is the Supreme Purusha, called the highest Self, indestructible and Lord, who pervades the three worlds and sustains them.
Meaning
Purushottama is beyond the universe though He pervades the three worlds. Therefore He is called the Supreme Being by the Vedas and men of this world. He pervades the three worlds and upholds them yet, He is not tainted by the world. He is above the world or worldliness.Just as the waking state is different from the dram or the deep sleep states, just as the orb of the sun is different from his rays or the mirage they casue, so also is the highest Purusha different from the perishable and the imperishable Purushas.The highest Purusha is the haven of peace. In Him all take their refuge and eternal rest. He is incomparable for He is selfcontained there is nothing like Him. He can only be compared to Himself. The imperishable Being (Akshara Brahman) Who is beyond the world and the Avyaktam (the Unmanifested) are essentially the same as the Purushottama Who transcends both the Kshara and the Akshara.The Purushottama is ite distinct from the two -- Kshara and Akshara. He is the Supreme Being. The physical body, the astral body and the causal body are also termed the Self. But these are secondary selves. Paramatma or the Supreme Self is the primary Self. Purushottama or Paramatma is the supreme or the highest when compared with the other secondary selves created by ignorance. He is the innermost consciousness of all beings. He is the support of everything
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→
- tu
- but
- iti
- thus
- yaḥ
- who
- anyaḥ
- besides
- bibharti
- supports
- avyayaḥ
- indestructible
- uttamaḥ
- the Supreme
- āviśhya
- enters
- loka trayam
- the three worlds
- puruṣhaḥ
- Divine Personality
- īśhvaraḥ
- the controller
- parama-ātmā
- the Supreme Soul
- udāhṛitaḥ
- is said
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