Shloka 16
Purushottama Yoga — Purushottama Yoga
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च ।
क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥ १५.१६ ॥
dvāv imau puruṣau loke kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca |
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho 'kṣara ucyate || 15.16 ||
এই লোকত দুটা পুৰুষ আছে—ক্ষৰ আৰু অক্ষৰ। ক্ষৰ বুলিলে সকলো ভূত-প্ৰাণী (নাশৱান সত্তা) বুজায়; আৰু কূটস্থ, অচল সত্তাক অক্ষৰ বুলি কোৱা হয়।
इस लोक में दो प्रकार के पुरुष हैं—क्षर और अक्षर। क्षर तो समस्त भूत (नाशवान प्राणी) हैं और अक्षर कूटस्थ (अचल) कहा जाता है।
In the world there are these two ‘persons’: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are called perishable; the ‘kūṭastha’ is called imperishable.
‘kūṭastha’ is variously glossed as ‘unchanging witness,’ ‘standing like an anvil (kūṭa),’ or the stable principle amidst change. Traditions differ on whether the imperishable refers to individual self, a collective principle, or a higher ontological level.
FAQs
It distinguishes the changing stream of experiences (perishable) from the stable standpoint of awareness (imperishable), a tool for reducing identification with fluctuation.
The verse introduces an ontological schema: beings are transient, while an imperishable ‘kūṭastha’ principle remains unchanged, preparing for the higher ‘Puruṣottama’ in 15.17–18.
It sets up the chapter’s culminating hierarchy—perishable, imperishable, and the supreme person beyond both.
As a reflective practice, one can note what in life is subject to decay (roles, possessions, emotions) and cultivate orientation toward what is stable (values, awareness, meaning).