Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 15, Verse 18
Verse 18
The Yoga of the Supreme Person
Since I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the imperishable, I am celebrated in the world and in the Vedas as the Purushottama — the Supreme Person.
Context & Meaning
Krishna now explicitly identifies himself with the Uttama Puruṣa of the previous verse. He transcends both the kṣara (the entire world of changing phenomena) and the akṣara (the unmanifest, immovable substratum) — and because of this dual transcendence, he is known throughout the world and throughout the Vedas as Purushottama — the Supreme among all Persons, the One who is highest. This is the name the chapter earns: Purushottama Yoga, the yoga of knowing, and surrendering to, the Supreme Person. The entire architecture of the inverted tree, the cosmic light, the divine presence in earth and body and heart — all of it has been leading to this self-revelation: Krishna as Purushottama, the ultimate reality behind all appearances.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
AdvaitaKṣaramatīto — transcending the perishable. Akṣarādapi cottamaḥ — higher even than the imperishable. The Purushottama is not merely the best of a category; he is categorically beyond both the manifest and the unmanifest. In Advaita terms, this points to pure Brahman — nirguṇa, transcendent, beyond all the dualities that structure both kṣara and akṣara. He is celebrated as such precisely because seekers who reach this understanding find that the Vedas have been pointing to this truth all along.