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BG 15.16 dvav imau purusau loke... cited

Expressions researched:
"In the material world every living entity is fallible" |"There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible" |"dvav imau purusau loke" |"in the spiritual world every living entity is called infallible" |"ksarah sarvani bhutani" |"ksaras caksara eva ca" |"kuta-stho 'ksara ucyate"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "15.16" or "In the material world every living entity is fallible" or "There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible" or "dvav imau purusau loke" or "in the spiritual world every living entity is called infallible" or "ksarah sarvani bhutani" or "ksaras caksara eva ca" or "kuta-stho ksara ucyate"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 15.16, Translation and Purport:

There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every living entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every living entity is called infallible.

As already explained, the Lord in His incarnation as Vyāsadeva compiled the Vedānta-sūtra. Here the Lord is giving, in summary, the contents of the Vedānta-sūtra. He says that the living entities, who are innumerable, can be divided into two classes—the fallible and the infallible. The living entities are eternally separated parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When they are in contact with the material world they are called jīva-bhūta, and the Sanskrit words given here, kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni, mean that they are fallible. Those who are in oneness with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, are called infallible. Oneness does not mean that they have no individuality, but that there is no disunity. They are all agreeable to the purpose of the creation. Of course, in the spiritual world there is no such thing as creation, but since the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as stated in the Vedānta-sūtra, is the source of all emanations, that conception is explained.

According to the statement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, there are two classes of living entities. The Vedas give evidence of this, so there is no doubt about it. The living entities who are struggling in this world with the mind and five senses have their material bodies, which are changing. As long as a living entity is conditioned, his body changes due to contact with matter; matter is changing, so the living entity appears to be changing. But in the spiritual world the body is not made of matter; therefore there is no change. In the material world the living entity undergoes six changes—birth, growth, duration, reproduction, then dwindling and vanishing. These are the changes of the material body. But in the spiritual world the body does not change; there is no old age, there is no birth, there is no death. There all exists in oneness. Kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni: any living entity who has come in contact with matter, beginning from the first created being, Brahmā, down to a small ant, is changing its body; therefore they are all fallible. In the spiritual world, however, they are always liberated in oneness.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 40, Purport:

It is said that the import of the Vedas becomes clear to one who is not only a sincere devotee of the Lord but also a sincere servitor of the spiritual master. The spiritual master knows the purpose of the Vedas, practices it personally, and teaches the disciple of the true light of the Vedas. The supreme spiritual master, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, teaches us the import of the Vedas in the following verse of Bhagavad-gītā (15.16):

dvāv imau puruṣau loke
kṣaraś cākṣara eva ca
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni
kūṭa-stho 'kṣara ucyate

The Lord says that in the Vedas it is mentioned that there are two kinds of living beings, called the fallible and the infallible. Those living beings who are materially encaged are all fallible, whereas those who are not conditioned and who are eternally situated in the spiritual realm are called akṣara, or infallible.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 30, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Two birds, two birds. Yes. Two birds. Bhagavad-gītā, it is clearly said. Anumantā upadraṣṭā. One kṣetra-jña is anumantā and upadraṣṭā; another kṣetra-jña is not anumantā. He's simply enjoying.

Dr. Patel: But that is... Dvāv imau puruṣau loke kṣaraś cākṣara... kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭa-stho 'kṣara ucyate. Uttamaḥ puruṣas tv anyaḥ paramātmety... (break) ...uttama puruṣa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṣara and akṣara means conditioned soul and liberated soul. Those who are in the Vaikuṇṭha world, spiritual world, they are all liberated souls. And those who are within this material world, they are conditioned souls. So...

Dr. Patel: When I read...

Prabhupāda: Now, let us finish. So this should be clearly understood, that in this body the both the Paramātmā and jīvātmā living.

Correspondence

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Caturbhuja -- Los Angeles 9 May, 1973:

Your fifth question is, "Bhagavad-gita says that the conditioned soul is subjected to four defects. Does that refer to the body or the soul?" The defects are there in the living being when he is acting on the material platform. As stated in Bhagavad-gita chapter 15 verse 17: "dvavimau purusau loke, ksaras caksara eva ca, ksarah sarvani bhutani, kutastho 'ksara ucyate:" "There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every entity is called infallible." So the defects are there only on the material platform. One who is acting in Krsna Consciousness is beyond those defects.

Page Title:BG 15.16 dvav imau purusau loke... cited
Compiler:MadhuGopaldas, Visnu Murti
Created:02 of Mar, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=1, SB=0, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=1
No. of Quotes:4