Bhagavad Gita 15.17

[Paramananda das]

 

TEXT 17

uttamah purusas tv anyah paramatmety udahrtah yo loka-trayam avisya bibharty avyaya isvarah

SYNONYMS

uttamah--the best; purusah--personality; tu--but; anyah--another; parama--the supreme; atma--self; iti--thus; udahrtah--is said; yah--one who; loka--of the universe; trayam--the three divisions; avisya--entering; bibharti--maintaining; avyayah--inexhaustible; isvarah--the  Lord.

TRANSLATION

Besides these two, there is  the greatest living personality, the Lord Himself, who has entered into these  worlds and is maintaining them.

PURPORT

This verse is very nicely expressed in  the Katha Upanisad and Svetasvatara Upanisad. It is clearly stated  there that above the innumerable living entities, some of whom are conditioned  and some of whom are liberated, there is the Supreme Personality who is  Paramatma. The Upanisadic verse runs as follows: nityo nityanam cetanas  cetananam. The purport is that amongst all the living entities, both  conditioned and liberated, there is one supreme living personality, the Supreme  Personality of Godhead, who maintains them and gives them all facility of  enjoyment according to different work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is  situated in everyone's heart as Paramatma. A wise man who can understand Him is  eligible to attain the perfect peace, not others. It is incorrect to think of the Supreme  Lord and the living entities as being on the same level or equal in all  respects. There is always the question of superiority and inferiority in their  personalities. This particular word uttama is very significant. No one  can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Loke is also significant  because in the paurusa, a Vedic literature, it is stated: lokyate  vedartho 'nena. This Supreme Lord in His localized aspect as Paramatma  explains the purpose of the Vedas. The following verse also appears in  the Vedas:

tavad esa samprasado 'smac charirat samutthaya  param jyoti-rupam sampadya svena rupenabhinispadyate sa  uttamah purusah.

"The Supersoul coming out of the body enters the  impersonal brahmajyoti; then in His form He remains in His spiritual  identity. That Supreme is called the Supreme Personality." This means that the  Supreme Personality is exhibiting and diffusing His spiritual effulgence, which  is the ultimate illumination. That Supreme Personality also has a localized  aspect as Paramatma. By incarnating Himself as the son of Satyavati and  Parasara, He explains the Vedic knowledge as Vyasadeva.

Jayadvaita Swamis edited version:

Text 17

uttamah purushas tv anyah paramatmety udahrtah yo loka-trayam avisya bibharty avyaya ishvarah

Translation

Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Supreme Soul, the imperishable Lord Himself, who has entered the three worlds and is maintaining them.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

The idea of this verse is very nicely expressed in the Katha Upanishad (2.2.13) and Shvetasvatara Upanishad (6.13). It is clearly stated there that above the innumerable living entities, some of whom are conditioned and some of whom are liberated, there is the Supreme Personality, who is Paramatma. The Upanishadic verse runs as follows: nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam. The purport is that amongst all the living entities, both conditioned and liberated, there is one supreme living personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who maintains them and gives them all the facility of enjoyment according to different work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in everyone’s heart as Paramatma. A wise man who can understand Him is eligible to at in perfect peace, not others.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

Having just spoken about the impersonal brahman, which the jnanis worship, the Lord now speaks about the paramatma which the yogis worship. The word tu indicates a distinction from what was previously spoken. As the yogi is a different worshipper than the jnani, the object worshipped will also be different.

The Lord shows the nature of paramatma. Paramatma is he who, though having the nature of commanding (isvara) and being unchanging (avyayah), enters into the three worlds completely and supports and protects it (bibharti

Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya: Visnuswami Sridhara Swami's Commentary Here Lord Krishna shows the reason why the two types of beings persihable and  impesihable were described in the previous verse for transcendental to both is  the Supreme Lord, Himself. In the Vedic scriptures He is described as Parama the supreme and as Atma the eternal soul. Combined they  become Paramatma the Supreme Soul which is different from the temporary  impersihable as well as distinct from the immortal individual atma which  is infintesimal, eternal consciousness. The Supreme Lord Krishna expands as the  three Purusa Avataras of Vishnu who are Karanadaksayi Vishnu laying upon  the unlimited casual ocean in yoga nidra or internal meditation, creating  trillions upon trillions of universes which emmante unlimitedly from His pores  during one exhalation.. They are ruled by His expansion of Garbodayaksayi Vishnu  who served by Laksmi-devi, rules each universe and expands as all the avataras or incarnations throughout creation who manifest in various  universes according to time, circumstances and schedule. From Garbodayaksayi  Vishnu is expanded Ksisrodaksayi Vishnu who enters into the etheric heart of  every jiva or embodied being in all of existence as Paramatma;  maintaining and sustaining each and every jivathroughout all creation as  one undivided reality.

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya: Madhvacarya Madhvacarya's Commentary

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya: Ramanuja Ramanuja's Commentary Now Lord Krishna expounds upon the supreme soul which is transcendent to both ksarah or fallible and the aksarah or infallible respectively as  the conditioned and the liberated. This supreme soul is designated as paramatma in all the Vedic scriptures. The very epithet of parama  meaning exaltedly supreme reveals that paramatma is distinctly unique and  different from even the atma or immortal soul. All the atmas  collectively in all of creation comprise the spiritual form of paramatma  which penetrates all creation sustaining and maintaining it. The word loka means world and because it is written as lokyate it refers to  the three classifications of worlds. One of them is achetana the  inanimate worlds. Two is buddha- chetana or the animate worlds  mixed with the inanimate worlds. Three is the unlimited and eternally liberated  spiritual worlds. It is these three categories of worlds and all the jivas or embodied beings upon them that the Supreme Lord Krishna pervades  and permeates, maintains and sustains by the fact that all the worlds are  originally generated by Him. As the soveriegn creator of all creation this makes  Him distinctly different from everything else yet at the same time a part of it.  Because He alone is infinite it can be comprehended that only He can be  distinctly different from the finite consisting of the inanimate, the animate,  the jivasin bondage and those who have achieved liberation.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya: Nimbaditya Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary Lord Krishna refers again to the Supreme Lord whom is the ultimate goal to  attain and the most worthy and whose divine opulence is expressed as the sun and  the moon. He explains that the Supreme Lord is transcendental and different from  both ksarah or perishable and aksarah or imperishable. The Supreme  Lord is indestructible, eternal and infallible. He is the highest reality, the  ultimate controller of prakriti the material substratum pervading  physical existence as well as the brahman or spiritual substratum  pervading all existence. Having integrated Himself as paramatma the  Supreme soul within the etheric heart of each and every jivaor embodied  being; the Supreme Lord maintains and sustains them along with all of creation.

from the commentary of Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja:

15.17
uttamah purushas tv anyah / paramatmety udahritah yo loka-trayam avishya / bibharty avyaya ishvarah
Click here to read Shrila Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita As It Is 15.17 /u>http://www.bhagavadgitaasitis.com/15/17/en>
tu---however; (there is) anyah---another; uttamah---transcendental; purushah---personality; udahritah---described; (by the sages) iti---as; parama-atma---the Supersoul; (He is) ishvarah--- controller; avyayah---the immutable; yah---who; avishya---entering; loka-trayam---the three worlds; bibharti---maintains (them).
There is, however, another superior akshara-purusha known as Paramatma. He is Ishvara, the unchanging controller who enters and sustains the three worlds.
SARARTHA-VARShINI BY ShRILA VIShVANATHA CAKRAVARTI THAKURA
After explaining brahma, the worshipable reality of the jnanis, in this shloka beginning with the word uttamah, Shri Bhagavan explains Paramatma, the worshipable object of the yogis. The word tu (but) indicates a characteristic which is distinctly different from the previously described akshara- purusha (brahma). It was said in Gita (6.46) that yogis are superior to jnanis: jnanibhyo'pi mato 'dhikah karmibhyash cadhiko yogi. From this statement, it is understood that the Absolute Reality manifests in a superior and specific way according to the advancement and speciality of the worshipper.
Paramatma-tattva is being explained as He who is Ishvara, the controller, and who is avyayah, without transformation, who enters, supports and maintains the three worlds. This is Paramatma.
SARARTHA-VARShINI PRAKAShIKA-VRiTTI BY ShRILA BHAKTIVEDANTA NARAYANA MAHARAJA
Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, "The second akshara (infallible) purusha, Paramatma, is superior to the first aksharapuru sha, brahma. He is Ishvara. Entering the three worlds, He is situated as their maintainer."