Chapter 15, Verse 18
यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः | अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः ||१५-१८||
yasmātkṣaramatīto.ahamakṣarādapi cottamaḥ . ato.asmi loke vedeca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ ||15-18||
Meaning
15.18 As I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the imperishable, I am declared to be the highest Purusha in the world and in the Vedas.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
This verse gives the chapter its name and its crowning declaration. Krishna states plainly why He is the Supreme: He transcends the perishable (kṣara) — the entire world of changing forms — and is higher even than the imperishable (akṣara), the unchanging ground that lesser teachings mistake for the final goal. Standing beyond both, He is renowned in both ordinary experience and in the Vedas as Puruṣottama, the Supreme Person.
The word Puruṣottama literally means 'the highest among persons,' and here it becomes Krishna's most exalted title. For the devotee, this verse is profoundly clarifying and reassuring: the ultimate reality is not an impersonal abstraction to be approached with cold philosophy, but the Supreme Person who can be known, loved, and taken refuge in. All the threads of the chapter — the world-tree, the indwelling soul, the cosmic sustenance, the two purushas — converge here, in the revelation of the one who is above and beyond them all.
💡 Key Takeaway
The ultimate reality is the Supreme Person, transcending both the changing world and the changeless ground.
Related Verses
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः | तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये | यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ||१५-४||
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyaṃ yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ . tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye . yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī ||15-4||
15.4 Then That goal should be sought for, whither having gone none returns again. I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha Whence streamed forth the ancient activity or energy.
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः | यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ||१५-६||
na tadbhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ . yadgatvā na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama ||15-6||
15.6 Neither doth the sun illumine there nor the moon, nor the fire; having gone thither they return not; that is My supreme abode.
यदादित्यगतं तेजो जगद्भासयतेऽखिलम् | यच्चन्द्रमसि यच्चाग्नौ तत्तेजो विद्धि मामकम् ||१५-१२||
yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate.akhilam . yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam ||15-12||
15.12 That light which residing in the sun illumines the whole world, that which is in the moon and in the fire know that light to be Mine.