Bhagavad Gita · Purushottama YogaChapter 15, Shloka 18 (15.18)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
यस्मात् क्षरमतीतोऽहम् अक्षरादपि चोत्तमः
अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः
॥ 15.18 ॥
yasmāt kṣaramatīto'ham akṣarādapi cottamaḥ
ato'smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ
Translation
"Because I am beyond the perishable and higher even than the imperishable, I am renowned in the world and in the Veda by the name "Purushottama" (the Supreme Person)."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya. saṃsāramāyāvṛkṣam aśvatthākhyam atikrāntaḥ — beyond the tree of worldly existence called the ashvattha (linking back to 15.1); kavayaḥ kāvyādiṣu ca idaṃ nāma nibadhnanti.
Acharya Ramanuja. vedārthāvalokanāt loka iti smṛtiḥ iha ucyate — "world" = smriti; śrutau smṛtau ca ity arthaḥ; the authority of Chandogya 8.12.3.
Shridhara Swami. kṣaraṃ jaḍavargam atikrānto 'haṃ nityamuktatvāt, akṣarāc cetanavargād apy uttamaś ca niyantṛtvāt — beyond the inert class because eternally free; higher even than the conscious class because the ruler; his authority is the Brihadaranyaka: sa vā ayam ātmā sarvasya vaśī sarvasyeśānaḥ.
Madhusudana Saraswati. kṣaraṃ … saṃsāravṛkṣam aśvatthākhyam atīto 'tikrānto 'ham — the perishable = the ashvattha tree of worldly existence, which I transcend; the imperishable = māyākhyād avyākṛtāt — the unmanifest called maya, the seed of that tree.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.