Chapter 15 · Verse 16 · Purushottama Yoga
Bhagavad Gita 15.16
Sanskrit
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च।क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते।।15.16।।
Transliteration
dvāv imau puruṣhau loke kṣharaśh chākṣhara eva cha kṣharaḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭa-stho ’kṣhara uchyate
In plain words
When you're losing someone or something you love—a marriage, a dream, your health, your sense of who you are—it feels like you're disappearing too. Krishna says: there is a part of you that cannot be shaken, that is not trembling with the loss. You are not the body that ages, not the mind that breaks, not even the love that walks away. There is a witness in you, untouched and whole, watching it all. That is who you really are.
Word by Word
Krishna reveals the cosmic architecture of existence: two orders of being inhabit creation. The perishable encompasses all changing forms—bodies, minds, worlds in flux—while the imperishable stands as the eternal, unchanging witness beyond all transformation.
This teaching shatters the illusion that you are merely the body or even the individual consciousness; it invites you to recognize yourself as the immutable Self observing the dance of change. In daily life, this discrimination becomes your anchor: when loss, aging, or circumstance shake you, remember you are the unchanging awareness witnessing these events, not the events themselves.
Listen
Bhagavad Gita 15.16 — BG 15.16
Your Mantra Prescription
This mantra is prescribed for clarity and purpose. Is that what you're going through?
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