यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः ।
अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः ॥ १५.१८ ॥

yasmāt-kṣaram-atīto’ham-akṣarād-api cottama: |
ato’smi loke vede ca prathita: puruṣottama: || 15.18 ||

Understanding Purushottama as the Self

This is the Paramātmā, the Supreme, says Krishna. He describes it in his own manner:

As the Supreme, namely the ‘I’, transcends the perishable existence as well as the imperishable jīva, in both Vedas and the world of thinkers, it has become famous as the supreme Purusha, the Purushottama.

As it is beyond the perishable forms of existence and also transcends the imperishable jīvā acting as the support for the perishable, It has become famous in both the Vedas and the realm of thinkers as Purushottama. The reference he makes is to the Self, which he began describing and explaining right from the second chapter as:

By calling it as Purushottama and Ìśvara, Krishna gives a clear indication as well as assurance to the seeking mind that the objective of all sādhanā is to get at the Self and be established there.

The world is, no doubt, infinite, endless, stupendous and awe-inspiring. Everything in it makes one think deeply about something great, wholesome and magnificent. Think of the earth itself, on which survive countless varieties of creatures – animal and vegetable kingdoms that live in water as well as on land. How could the single earth, being mute and insentient, be the genesis of all these?

The power that water or air holds is boundless – even terrifying. What to say about lightning, rainfall or radiation? How many planets far more huge and complex than earth surround us! When one thinks of all these endless creations and tries to trace their source, where would it lead and to what splendour and might?

Krishna says all these come within the kṣara and akṣara purushas he speaks of. The one source, the progenitor of both, he then adds, is not so much above, far away or beyond our reach. It is within us, beneath the mind and heart. It is the creator of the three mental states. Call it the Purushottama and understand that It is within yourself.