Verse 15.16
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च | क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ||१६||
Transliteration (IAST)
dvāv imau puruṣau loke kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca | kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭa-stho 'kṣara ucyate ||16||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
There are two types of beings in this world - the perishable and the imperishable. All created beings are perishable, and the unchanging (soul) is called imperishable.
Commentary
Shankaracharya explains that 'kṣara puruṣa' refers to the entire manifest world of names and forms subject to change, while 'akṣara puruṣa' refers to the seed-power of ignorance (māyā) or, alternatively, the individual self in its liberated state. Ramanuja identifies kṣara as all bound souls in their embodied condition and akṣara as the liberated soul. This verse sets up the crucial distinction that leads to the Purushottama teaching in verses 17-18.