Chapter XV · Śloka 16
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके
क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च ।
क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि
कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥
क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च ।
क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि
कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥
dvāv imau puruṣau loke
kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca |
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni
kūṭa-stho'kṣara ucyate ||
kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca |
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni
kūṭa-stho'kṣara ucyate ||
There are two Puruṣas in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable; the immovable is called the imperishable.
Kṛṣṇa introduces the foundational ontological distinction: the kṣara (perishable) encompasses all embodied, changing beings caught in saṃsāra, while the akṣara (imperishable) refers to the unmanifest, immovable substrate of māyā or the liberated witness-self. This sets the stage for the revelation of the third and highest reality.