Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 15, Verse 16
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च।क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते।।
dvāv imau puruṣau loke kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭa-stho ’kṣara ucyate
also searched as "dvav imau purushau loke ksharash chakshara eva cha"
Translation
There are two kinds of persons spoken of in the sastra: the perishable (ksara) and the imperishable (aksara). All beings are perishable, while the imperishable is called the unchanging (kutastha).
Vāṇi's rendering
Two persons stand in this world: the perishing and the imperishable. All beings perish; the unchanging one does not.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| द्वौdvau | two |
| इमौimau | these |
| पुरुषौpuruṣau | persons, beings |
| लोकेloke | in this world |
| क्षरःkṣaraḥ | the perishing, the wearing-away (appears as kṣaraś before ca) |
| चca | and (joined in cākṣara) |
| अक्षरःakṣaraḥ | the imperishable, the undecaying (joined in cākṣara) |
| एवeva | indeed |
| चca | and |
| क्षरःkṣaraḥ | the perishing one |
| सर्वाणिsarvāṇi | all |
| भूतानिbhūtāni | beings, creatures |
| कूटस्थःkūṭa-sthaḥ | the one standing at the summit; unmoved, unchanging (appears as kūṭastho before the elided a) |
| अक्षरःakṣaraḥ | imperishable (written ’kṣara, its initial a swallowed by sandhi) |
| उच्यतेucyate | is called, is spoken of |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Verse 16 mean?
Krishna divides the whole of existence into two: the perishing and the imperishable. Every being you can name, including your body and your history, belongs to the first. The second is kūṭastha — the unmoved one, standing while forms change. The verse is not poetry about impermanence. It is a sorting, and it asks you where you have placed yourself.
What is the meaning of dvav imau purushau loke ksharash chakshara eva cha?
Two puruṣas stand in this world — kṣara, that which wears away, and akṣara, that which does not. Krishna says this plainly, without softening it. All beings fall under kṣara. What remains uncounted in that list is the knowing that watches beings arrive and go, and never itself arrives or goes.
Who or what is kutastha in this verse?
Kūṭastha means standing at the peak, immovable. Krishna uses it for the imperishable — not a person hidden somewhere, but that which does not shift while everything below it shifts. Your moods move, your body moves, your fortunes move. Something notices all of that movement without moving. Kūṭastha names that.
If all beings perish, why should I not despair?
Because despair assumes you are only in the first column. Arjuna despaired for exactly that reason, and Krishna answers by counting again. Yes, all beings perish; that is settled and needs no argument. But the one who can hear this said, and feel the cold of it, is not among the perishing. Find that one before you grieve.
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Commentary
Count them. Two, and no more — and one of the two is everything you have ever loved. All beings perish: that is not a threat, it is a census. Krishna is not consoling Arjuna about the deaths ahead; he is naming which column they belong in. And beside that column stands kūṭastha, the one seated at the summit, unmoved while the forms below come and go. Arjuna wants to know where he himself stands. So do you. Everything you can lose is in the first column. The one doing the losing is not.