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Bhagavad Gita 15.16 meaningThe upside-down tree

In simple wordsSo simple a child gets it

“Some things change and end. The soul never ends.”

What it means

“There are two kinds of being in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All living beings are perishable; their unchanging essence is imperishable.”

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The original Sanskrit

द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च । क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥

dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho.akṣara ucyate

Translations

Literal translation

There are these two persons in the world-the mutable and the immutable. The mutable consists of all things; the one existing as Maya is called the immutable.

Swami Gambhirananda

हिंदी अनुवाद

इस लोक में क्षर (नश्वर) और अक्षर (अनश्वर) ये दो पुरुष हैं, समस्त भूत क्षर हैं और 'कूटस्थ' अक्षर कहलाता है।

Swami Tejomayananda

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Commentaries

How great teachers across 1,200 years have explained this verse.

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Keep reading · 15.17“But beyond both is the highest being, called the supreme self, the eternal lord who enters and sustains the three worlds.”