Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 15, Verse 18
यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः।अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः।।
yasmāt kṣaram atīto ’ham akṣarād api cottamaḥ
ato ’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ
also searched as "yasmat ksharam atito ham aksharad api chottamah"
Translation
Because I transcend the perishable person and am also higher than the imperishable one, therefore I am referred to in the Smrti and the Veda as the Supreme Person (Purusotama).
Vāṇi's rendering
I stand beyond the perishing, above even the imperishable. So world and scripture name me the highest person.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यस्मात्yasmāt | because; since |
| क्षरम्kṣaram | the perishing one — all that decays |
| अतीतःatītaḥ | gone beyond, transcendent (joined as atīto before aham) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| अक्षरात्akṣarāt | than the imperishable one |
| अपिapi | even |
| चca | and (joined in cottamaḥ, ca + uttamaḥ) |
| उत्तमःuttamaḥ | highest, most excellent |
| अतःataḥ | therefore (joined as ato before asmi) |
| अस्मिasmi | I am |
| लोकेloke | in the world, in common speech |
| वेदेvede | in the Veda |
| चca | and |
| प्रथितःprathitaḥ | widely known, celebrated, named |
| पुरुषोत्तमःpuruṣottamaḥ | the highest person (puruṣa + uttama) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Verse 18 mean?
Krishna names himself puruṣottama — beyond the kṣara, the perishing world of bodies and forms, and higher even than the akṣara, the changeless ground behind them. He is not one more level in a hierarchy. He is what both levels rest in, and this, he says, is why world and scripture have always called him the highest person.
What does yasmat ksharam atito ham mean in the Gita?
It means: because I have gone beyond the perishing. Kṣara is everything that wears out — the aśvattha tree of chapter fifteen, the body, the world you keep repairing. Krishna is not repairing it and not inside it. He speaks from outside its whole arrangement, and that is the ground of the name he claims next.
What is the difference between kshara, akshara, and Purushottama?
Kṣara is all that decays. Akṣara is what does not — the still, unchanging ground. Puruṣottama is neither, and holds both. Krishna is telling Arjuna that liberation is not merely escaping the perishing into the changeless. There is one further, and that one has a face, a name, and is speaking to him.
Why does Krishna say he is named in both world and Veda?
Because the recognition is not a private mystical claim. Loke and vede — ordinary speech and revealed scripture — have both been circling this name long before Arjuna heard it. Krishna is not introducing himself. He is confirming what you have half-known every time you sensed something standing behind both your losses and your stillness.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Krishna has just described two puruṣas — the perishing and the imperishable — and now he places himself beyond both. Not a third item on the list. The one who holds the list. Notice that he does not argue for the name; he reports it. World and scripture already say it, and he is telling Arjuna what has always been said. The name is not honorific. It is a location — the place from which perishing and non-perishing can both be seen. You have spent your life defending the perishing part and hoping for the imperishable one. He stands past both, and calls you there.