Chapter 15 Shloka 18

यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः।

अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः।।१८।।

Now Bhagwan speaks about Himself:

Since I transcend the perishable matter

and surpass the imperishable soul,

I am renowned in the world

and in the Vedas as Purushottam.

Chapter 15 Shloka 18

यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः।

अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः।।१८।।

Now Bhagwan speaks about Himself:

Since I transcend the perishable matter and surpass the imperishable soul, I am renowned in the world and in the Vedas as Purushottam.

Little one, the Lord is speaking here about Himself. Remember:

a) One who has donned a body is speaking to an embodied soul.

b) A warrior is being addressed by his colleague and friend.

c) A seemingly ordinary person is speaking.

Hear what He says! “Since I transcend the perishable and since I surpass the imperishable, therefore I am known as ‘Purushottam’ in this mortal world and in the Vedas.”

Understand this carefully little one!

1. The Lord is completely removed and far beyond the body idea.

2. There is no attachment with the body even in dreams.

3. There is no identification with the body even in dreams.

4. He is devoid of the intellect which is subjugated to the body.

5. He does not consider the body to be His.

6. He transcends both name and form.

7. He transcends the qualities of the body.

8. He completely transcends the aberrations of the mind and all other qualifications and attributes.

The Supreme Lord lies beyond even the jivatma which is an integral part of the Supreme and which cannot be destroyed at the time of death.

The Lord says that He is known as Purushottam even whilst he interacts in the world.

Little one, just as the state of the jivatma transcends the dream state as well as the state of deep sleep, so also, the Paramatma lies far beyond the states of imperishable consciousness as well as the perishable state. He is beyond description.

a) Everything exists there, yet nothing exists.

b) In that state, there is neither duality nor non-duality.

c) Such a One is neither this nor that. He simply is.

Little one, such a One is unborn yet He stands before us in embodied form. He is not subject to death – yet He appears as a mortal. The jivatma dwells with a living being, but here there is no mortal entity, then how can we speak of Him as the jivatma?

The embodied soul who stood before Arjuna was a divine and unique creation. Lord Krishna is the essence of Brahm – the epitome of knowledge.

1. He is the master of all attributes yet He is ever a gunatit for he is devoid of attributes Himself.

2. He is the indivisible, non-dual entity; He is the divine luminescence.

3. That Supreme Purusha – that One is the foremost of all Purushas, He is the Supreme Essence – Brahm Himself.

4. He is the indestructible and immutable that cannot be brought within the confines of thought.

5. He is unknowable, incomparable, unsurpassable and without limits.

Little one, therefore it is said that He transcends both the perishable embodied Purusha as well as the jivatma Purusha who is but a segment of the Supreme.