Bhagavad Gita 15.16द्वाविमौ 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.
Hindi translation
इस संसारमें क्षर (नाशवान्) और अक्षर (अविनाशी) -- ये दो प्रकारके पुरुष हैं। सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंके शरीर नाशवान् और कूटस्थ (जीवात्मा) अविनाशी कहा जाता है।
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…
- 15.13Permeating the earth, I support all beings with My energy; and having become the watery…
- 15.14Having become the fire Vaisvanara, I abide in the bodies of living beings and, associated…
- 15.15And I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory and knowledge, as well as their…
15.16Two Purushas there are in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are…
- 15.17But distinct is the Supreme Purusha, called the highest Self, indestructible and Lord, who…
- 15.18As I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the imperishable, I am declared to…
- 15.19He who, undeluded, knows Me as the highest Purusha, he, knowing all, worships Me with his…
- 15.20Thus, I have imparted to you this most secret science, O sinless one; by knowing this, one…
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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- 5.19Even here in this world, those whose minds rest in reality overcome birth; Brahman is…
- 4.9He who thus knows, in their true light, My divine birth and actions, having abandoned the…
- 9.19As the sun, I give heat; I withhold and send forth the rain; I am immortality and also…