Bg. 15.16 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च । क्षर: सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥ १६ ॥

Verse text

dvāv imau puruṣau loke kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭa-stho ’kṣara ucyate

Synonyms

dvau — two ; imau — these ; puruṣau — living entities ; loke — in the world ; kṣaraḥ — fallible ; ca — and ; akṣaraḥ — infallible ; eva — certainly ; ca — and ; kṣaraḥ — fallible ; sarvāṇi — all ; bhūtāni — living entities ; kūṭa-sthaḥ — in oneness ; akṣaraḥ — infallible ; ucyate — is said.

Translation

There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every living entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every living entity is called infallible.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

16. There are two conscious beings in this universe: the collective jīvas and Brahman.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

16. There are two conscious beings mentioned in the Vedas: the conditioned jīvas and the liberated jīvas. The bound jīvas are all these living entities with bodies. The liberated jīva are fixed with one form for all time.

Purport

As already explained, the Lord in His incarnation as Vyāsadeva compiled the Vedānta-sūtra. Here the Lord is giving, in summary, the contents of the Vedānta-sūtra. He says that the living entities, who are innumerable, can be divided into two classes – the fallible and the infallible. The living entities are eternally separated parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When they are in contact with the material world they are called jīva-bhūta, and the Sanskrit words given here, kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni, mean that they are fallible. Those who are in oneness with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, are called infallible. Oneness does not mean that they have no individuality, but that there is no disunity. They are all agreeable to the purpose of the creation. Of course, in the spiritual world there is no such thing as creation, but since the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as stated in the Vedānta-sūtra, is the source of all emanations, that conception is explained. According to the statement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, there are two classes of living entities. The Vedas give evidence of this, so there is no doubt about it. The living entities who are struggling in this world with the mind and five senses have their material bodies, which are changing. As long as a living entity is conditioned, his body changes due to contact with matter; matter is changing, so the living entity appears to be changing. But in the spiritual world the body is not made of matter; therefore there is no change. In the material world the living entity undergoes six changes – birth, growth, duration, reproduction, then dwindling and vanishing. These are the changes of the material body. But in the spiritual world the body does not change; there is no old age, there is no birth, there is no death. There all exists in oneness. Kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni: any living entity who has come in contact with matter, beginning from the first created being, Brahmā, down to a small ant, is changing its body; therefore they are all fallible. In the spiritual world, however, they are always liberated in oneness.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The collective jīvas are all these living entities. The Brahman is fixed with one form for all time. Because I am the knower of the Vedas, I will speak in brief the essential meaning of all the Vedas in three verses. Please listen. In the material universe made of fourteen worlds (loke), there are these two conscious beings (imau dvau puruṣau). He then describes who they are in brief. One is the jīva, called kṣara, because he is in a deviated (kṣar means to fall) condition from his svarūpa or true nature. The other is Brahman, called akṣara, which does not deviate from its svarūpa. The śruti says: etad vai tad akṣaraṁ gārgi brāhmaṇā abhivadanti The knowers of Brahman know this as akṣara, O Gārgī. Bṛhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.8.3 The smṛti says: akṣaraṁ brahma paramam The akṣara is the supreme Brahman. BG 8.3 From these quotations, it is seen that the word akṣara means Brahman. Now the Lord makes clear the meaning of these two words. All the living entities are one aggregate jīva (sarvāni kṣaraḥ). The collective jīva, fallen from his svarūpa by beginningless ignorance and subject to karma, becomes the variety of living entities up to the moving entities like Lord Brahmā. The singular number of kṣaraḥ is used to express a class. The second conscious being, akṣara, is situated for all of time with is one svarūpa, which does not fall. Amara Kośa says “That is kuṭa-sthaḥ which is situated over all time with one form.”

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

The Lord now summarizes the meaning of the Vedas as defined by Bādarāyaṇa. The meaning of the word loka is “that by which truth is perceived (lokyate).” Thus loka means Veda. In the Vedas, two types of men (puruṣau) are celebrated (prathitau), or confirmed. Who are they? One is destructible (kṣaraḥ), going through many changes because of having a destructible body. He is bound up because of mixing with the material world. The other is situated in a asingle condition, because of not having a destructible body (akṣaraḥ). He is liberated because of having no connection with the material world. The two are further described. The destructible refers to all the beings from Brahmā to the immovable beings (sarva bhūtāni). The indestructible is always in one state (kūṭasthaḥ), ever liberated. The delineation of a whole group by the singular case can be understood in connection with previous statements such as such as bahavo jṣāna-tapasā (BG 4.10) and idaṁ jṣānam upāśritya (BG 14.2), There, such liberated souls are mentioned as many.

Surrender Unto Me

Then Krsna introduces a third kind. [2. Each living entity is eternally part and parcel of Krsna. But now he is struggling as he changes from body to body in his search for pleasure within this material world. (7‑9) ]