Purusha

 dvaamimau purushau loke ksharaakshara eva cha |

ksharaha sarvaani bhootaani kootasthokshara uchhyate || 16 ||
 
There are two beings in this world, the perishable and the imperishable. All beings constitute the perishable, the Kootastha is called the imperishable.
 
dvaau : two
imau : these
purushau : beings
loke : in this world
ksharaha : perishable
aksharaha : imperishable
eva : also
cha : and
ksharaha : imperishable
sarvaani : all
bhootaani : beings
kootasthaha : Kootastha
kshara : perishable
uchhyate : is called
 
Computer programmers love to create video games that can put the player in a gigantic virtual world where they can blow up aliens. What is interesting is that the same computer game can create a different world each time, with different kinds of aliens in different place. In other words, the infinitely complex virtual worlds created by the game can change, but the computer game program remains the same. Our visible universe is quite similar.
 
Shri Krishna begins to summarize the teaching of this chapter by asserting that everything in the world can be classified into two category. The first category comprises the visible world, the tangible world which comprises all living and inert beings. The second category comprises the invisible entity called Maaya. Maaya is like the computer game program that is invisible, yet has the power to create infinitely complex universes over and over again. The first category is termed kshara or perishable, because the universe has a beginning and end. The second category is termed akshara or imperishable, because it outlives the perishable.
 
So therefore, let’s examine this teaching from two standpoints. From our standpoint, the standpoint of the “I” – the kshara, the perishable is our physical body. The akshara, the imperishable is the jeeva, as defined in the previous shlokas. From the standpoint of the world, the standpoint of the “that” – the kshara is the visible universe. The akshara refers to Maaya, the seed of infinite universes, present, past and future.
 
Let’s now look at some of the terms used in the shloka. Koota means illusion, and therefore kootastha means that which can create several illusions. Another clarification is around the imperishability of Maaya. If Maaya is imperishable, how can we get out of it? The answer is that Maaya is imperishable till we realize our true nature and attain liberation. Each category is called a Purusha or a being because both of them are limitations or upaadhis of Ishvara, as we shall see in the next shloka.

uttamaha purushastvanyaha paramaatmetyudaahyataha |
yo lokatrayamaavishya bibhartyavyaya eeshvaraha || 17 ||
 
But distinct is that foremost person, spoken of as the supreme self, the imperishable lord, who enters and sustains the three worlds.
 
uttamaha : foremost
purushaha : person
tu : but
anyaha : distinct
paramaatma : supreme self
iti : in this manner
udaahyataha : spoken of
yaha : who
lokatrayam : in three worlds
aavishya : enters
bibharti : sustains
avyayaha : imperishable
eeshvaraha : lord
 
As we saw earlier, a single video game program can create an infinite variety of complex worlds in the computer. Let us now pose the question – what is the core, what is the essence of these complex worlds? What is the purest state of these worlds? We need to peel the layers of an onion, as it were. The worlds are not real, they are created by a computer program. A computer program is not real, it is a series of instructions in a computer’s memory. The instructions are not real, they are modifications of electricity. Ultimately, it is electricity that is creating and sustaining all of the worlds we see in a computer game.
 
Now, what if we pose the question – what is at the core of this world? If we get rid of all the limitations, what the purest state of this world? What is the purest state of our existence? The visible world is not real, because it is created by a play of the gunaas of Prakriti, and is perishable. Prakriti or Maaya is not real, though it is relatively imperishable, because it can be destroyed upon removal of our ignorance. What remains, is the eternal essence on which Maaya projects all its limitations or upaadhis.
 
Similarly, if we mentally remove our upaadhis or limitations, it will go something like this. Our body is a play of the gunaas, it is not real. Beyond the body are the senses and the mind, and they are comprised of gunaas and therefore not real. Beyond the senses and mind lies the eternal essence, untainted by Prakriti, which is the purest form of our “I”. In other words, when we remove all of our upaadhis or limitations, we come to the same eternal essence that is reached when we remove the upaadhis of the visible world.
 
We had seen the identity of our “I” with the eternal essence, of aatman with brahman, in the thirteenth chapter as well. That very same eternal essence, the purest brahman or shuddha brahman is referred to as the imperishable lord in this shloka by Shri Krishna. The three worlds here refer to either heaven, earth and hell, or even our waking, dreaming and sleeping states. The eternal essence enters and sustains all of them, but it is not some remote entity. It is the supreme self, the “I” residing within everyone.

yasmaatksharamateetohamaksharaadaapi choottamaha |
atosmi loke vede cha prathitaha purushottamaha || 18 ||
 
For, I transcend the perishable and also am superior to the imperishable. Therefore, in the world and in the Vedas, I am well known as the foremost person.
 
yasmaat : for
ksharam : perishable
ateetaha : transcend
aham : I
aksharaat : imperishable
api : also
cha : and
uttamaha : superior to
ataha : therefore
asmi : I am
loke : in the world
vede : in Vedas
cha : and
prathitaha : well known
purushottamaha : foremost person
 
Now, Shri Krishna reveals his true identity as Purushottama, the uttama Purusha, the foremost person, which is a poetic means of referring to the eternal essence, the pure brahman without any limitations. The root of the sanskrit word “uttama” is “ut” or high. This means that there is nothing higher than Purushottama. The imperishable, also known as Prakriti or Maaya, could be considered superior to the perishable world, because Prakriti is the cause and the world is its effect. Any cause is superior than its effect, just like the parents are superior to their children. Since Prakriti exists only as an adhyaasa, a projection on Purushottama, he is greater than anything else.
 
Let us also look at the significance of Purushottama by going deeper into what is meant by cause and effect. According to Vedanta, there are two types of causes. The material cause is the substance which makes the effect. A clay pot is made of clay, so its material cause, its upaadaana kaarana, is clay. But the pot did not make itself. There was an intelligence in the form of a potter that created the clay pot. This is the second type of cause is the nimitta kaarana, known as the intelligent or efficient cause.
 
Some schools of thought assert that the Purushottama is only the intelligent cause and not the material cause. He is like the potter who is distinct and separate than his creation. But in the Advaita school, the Purushottama is not only considered the intelligence behind creation, he is also the raw material behind the creation. The Mundaka Upanishad compares Purushottama to the spider who weaves the web from within himself, and eventually, pulls back the web into himself.
 
We should again not forget that this uttama Purusha, this foremost person, is nothing but our own self, our “I”. In fact, uttama Purusha in Sanskrit grammatically means the first person, the “I”. He is beyond the perishable tree of samsara, and also beyond the seed of this tree in the form of Prakriti. What is the result of knowing this uttama Purusha?