Bhagavad Gita · Purushottama YogaChapter 15, Shloka 17 (15.17)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
उत्तमः पुरुषस्त्वन्यः परमात्मेत्युदाहृतः
यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः
॥ 15.17 ॥
uttamaḥ puruṣastvanyaḥ paramātmetyudāhṛtaḥ
yo lokatrayamāviśya bibhartyavyaya īśvaraḥ
Translation
"But the supreme Person is other, called the Paramatma (Supreme Self) — the imperishable Lord who enters the three worlds and upholds and sustains them."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya. uttamaḥ utkṛṣṭatamaḥ; ātmā ca sarvabhūtānāṃ pratyakcetanaḥ; svarūpasadbhāvamātreṇa bibharti — upholding merely by his own being.
Acharya Ramanuja. baddhamuktapuruṣābhyām anyaḥ arthāntarabhūtaḥ paramātmā — a principle distinct from both the bound and the liberated; the three worlds = acetanaṃ tatsaṃsṛṣṭaḥ cetano muktaḥ ca.
Shridhara Swami. The supreme Person's distinction on two sides: ātmatvena kṣarād acetanād vilakṣaṇaḥ, paramatvenākṣarāc cetanād bhoktur vilakṣaṇaḥ — being the Self, distinct from the insentient perishable; and being supreme, distinct from the conscious enjoyer (the imperishable).
Madhusudana Saraswati. He links "Paramatma" to the five sheaths of the Taittiriya: annamayaprāṇamayamanomayavijñānamayānandamayebhyaḥ … paramaprakṛṣṭaḥ — beyond all five sheaths, from the sheath of food to the sheath of bliss.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.