Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 15, Verse 17
उत्तमः पुरुषस्त्वन्यः परमात्मेत्युदाहृतः।यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः।।
uttamaḥ puruṣas tv anyaḥ paramātmety udāhṛtaḥ
yo loka-trayam āviśya bibharty avyaya īśvaraḥ
also searched as "uttamah purushas tv anyah paramatmety udahritah"
Translation
There is a Supreme Person other than these. He is referred to as the Supreme Self (Paramatma) in all the Vedas. He, as the Immutable One and the Lord, enters the threefold world and supports it.
Vāṇi's rendering
Higher than the mortal and the immortal stands another — the supreme self, the undying lord who enters and carries the three worlds.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| उत्तमःuttamaḥ | highest, supreme |
| पुरुषःpuruṣaḥ | person, spirit (sandhi: puruṣas before tu) |
| तुtu | but, however |
| अन्यःanyaḥ | another, other than these two |
| परमात्माparamātmā | the supreme self (sandhi: paramātmety before iti) |
| इतिiti | thus, so |
| उदाहृतःudāhṛtaḥ | is spoken of, is named |
| यःyaḥ | who |
| लोक-त्रयम्loka-trayam | the three worlds |
| आविश्यāviśya | having entered, having pervaded |
| बिभर्तिbibharti | bears, holds up, sustains (sandhi: bibharty before avyayaḥ) |
| अव्ययःavyayaḥ | undying, never wearing away (sandhi: avyaya before īśvaraḥ) |
| ईश्वरःīśvaraḥ | the lord, the one who governs |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Verse 17 mean?
It names a third thing. Beyond everything that decays and everything that does not, Krishna points to the paramātmā — not a higher shelf of existence but a person who enters the worlds and holds them up. The teaching is not that he watches from outside. It is that he is already inside, bearing the weight.
What does uttamah purushas tvanyah paramatmetyudahritah mean?
Higher than both stands another, and he is called the supreme self. The Sanskrit is careful: anyaḥ, other — not a bigger version of what came before, but something the earlier two categories cannot contain. Then udāhṛtaḥ, he is spoken of, named. What could not be classified can still be called.
Who is the Purushottama that Krishna describes here?
He is īśvaraḥ, the lord, and avyayaḥ, the one who never wears out. The verb given to him is bibharti — he bears. Not rules, not merely observes. Bears. Whatever the three worlds weigh, that weight rests on him and he does not tire under it.
How does this verse help me in daily life?
You spend most of your effort holding things together — a household, a reputation, a body. This verse says the deepest holding was never your work. Something has entered the world and is carrying it, and you along with it. Do your part, and stop bracing your shoulders against the sky.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Two were named before this — the perishable and the imperishable, all that changes and all that does not. Krishna adds a third, and the third is not a category. It is a person. The supreme self does not stand above the three worlds inspecting them; he enters, and having entered, carries. That word bibharti is the whole verse: to bear, to hold up, to keep from falling. Whatever holds you up while you sleep, while you forget, while you argue with the sky — that is not you doing it. You have been carried all along. Only now are you told the name of the one carrying.