Shloka 126
Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)
कूटस्थं कर्त निर्दधन्द्रमकर्तेति च यं विदु: । व्यक्तिभावगतस्यास्य एका मूर्तिरियं शुभा
kūṭasthaṃ kartaṃ nirdahandram akarteti ca yaṃ viduḥ | vyaktibhāvagatasya asya ekā mūrtir iyaṃ śubhā
कूटस्थं कर्तृ निर्दहन्द्रमकर्तेति च यं विदुः । व्यक्तिभावगतस्यास्य एका मूर्तिरियं शुभा ॥
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a two-level understanding of ultimate Reality: from the empirical standpoint it is spoken of as the ‘doer’ that burns away bondage, while from the highest standpoint it is ‘non-doer’—unchanging and beyond agency. The same Reality can also be approached as an auspicious manifest form for contemplation and devotion.
Arjuna is articulating a philosophical clarification: how the same supreme principle is described with seemingly opposite attributes (doer/non-doer, manifest/immutable). He points to a particular ‘auspicious form’ as one manifestation of that Reality when it is considered in a personal, manifest mode.